Cervical Health Awareness Month Comes to an End - Education Must Continue

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Cervical Health Awareness Month Comes to an End - Education Must Continue

As January comes to a close, cervical cancer prevention and treatment awareness should continue throughout the year.

Sacramento – While January was officially deemed "Cervical Health Awareness Month," the California Medical Association (CMA) Foundation is urging organizations and advocates to continue education and awareness around prevention and treatment of the disease.

"We’re finding that many women aren’t aware of the simple steps they can take to prevent cervical cancer," states Assistant Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the USC Keck School of Medicine and CMA Foundation Board Member, Diana Ramos, MD, MPH. "Cervical cancer is one of the few cancers that can be detected through regular screening. Through education campaigns like this one, we can help save the lives of thousands of patients."

Cervical cancer is the second most common form of cancer worldwide and causes 4,000 deaths in the United States each year. According to the American Cancer Society’s California Cancer Facts & Figures 2012 report, it is expected that California will have 1,455 new cases of cervical cancer in 2012, and 435 deaths from the disease.

The importance of this issue has not gone unnoticed by our state leaders.

Governor Brown recently issued a Proclamation acknowledging Cervical Health Awareness Month. Senator Evans and Assemblymember Atkins have also recognized the campaign in a Legislative Resolution that was introduced last week.

"Women must be their own advocates," said Senator Evans (D-Santa Rosa), Chair of the Legislative Women’s Caucus. "We must educate ourselves about our bodies before we become statistics and we must urge all women to do the same."

Recent studies have shown that the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine has the potential to prevent up to 70 percent of cervical cancer cases and deaths in California annually. HPV is the leading cause for cervical cancer.

"It is not often in life that we have the resources to avoid a tragedy, but in this case, simple prevention can save thousands of lives," continued Evans. "Get educated, get screened and if warranted, get vaccinated."

For more information on the CMA Foundation’s cervical cancer prevention resources, please visit our website at www.thecmafoundation.org/projects/HPV/

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