The kits are designed to encourage more women to complete their potentially lifesaving screening to detect human papillomavirus (HPV), which can increase the risk of cervical cancer.

Health and social care secretary Yvette Cooper said: ‘These free self-testing kits will be offered to 4m women who are currently behind on their screening to make it easier for as many women as possible to keep themselves healthy and safe.

‘This is the future NHS we are building – there for all of us when we need it, and acting as early as possible to stop preventable deaths.'

The latest figures show 68.8% of eligible women were up to date with their cervical screening - below the NHS England target of 80%.

The NHS has pledged to eliminate cervical cancer by 2040. HPV self-testing is an invitation-only offer and is being rolled out in phases across England as part of the NHS Cervical Screening Programme, starting with those aged between 30 and 65, who have not attended cervical screening following previous invitations.

The national roll out comes on the back of the YouScreen trial run by North London cancer alliances in collaboration with NHS England and King's College London in 2021, which found offering self-testing kits to under-screened women at their GP practice or at home could boost the numbers screened in England by about 400,000 each year.

Women aged 24-64 are invited for cervical screening by the NHS every five years, or more frequently if HPV is detected.