内容摘要："Maybe we think that we see the boys and girls of four years old being killed by the bomb or being killed at the hospital because it's not a hospital anymore. It's not our business.

"Maybe we think that we see the boys and girls of four years old being killed by the bomb or being killed at the hospital because it's not a hospital anymore. It's not our business.

Beverly Craig said her son Casey, 14, and 12-year-old daughter Autumn "go into meltdown" anytime they go near their school.One mental health consultant said "school-based anxiety" had become an epidemic which is "off the Richter scale" in Northern Ireland.

The Department of Education (DE) confirmed that 85,000 children in Northern Ireland had missed more than a tenth of school days in the current academic year for multiple reasons.The Children's Commissioner, Chris Quinn, is so concerned about the high levels of "emotionally-based school avoidance" that he has instructed his officials to investigate it.Some of the main causes cited are anxiety, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism and bullying, either physical or online.

More than 4,000 pupils with the very highest rates of absenteeism are currently referred to specialists for help but it is unclear how many of these are linked to "emotionally based school avoidance".Both of Ms Craig's children are enrolled at Laurel Hill Community College in Lisburn but she said they find the secondary school environment "overwhelming".

Ms Craig said Casey has not been at school since Easter of last year and Autumn has been off since September.

"It ranges from not being able to eat, not being able to sleep, having just a complete meltdown trying to get through the doors, crying," she said.Cancer Research UK urged women and people with a cervix not to wait for a screening invitation if they noticed any unusual changes.

They are encouraged to go forCurrently, those aged 50-64 are invited every five years and 25-49 year olds every three years.

NHS England says it now wants to spare younger women appointments they don't need as part of "a more personalised approach".Cervical screening involves testing for HPV, human papillomavirus. Some types of HPV can cause cell changes in the cervix, which may develop into cancer over time. Nearly all cases of cervical cancer are linked to high-risk HPV.