Cervical Health Awareness Month

Tuesday, January 29, 2019

January is a cervical health awareness month, it is a chance to raise awareness about how women can protect themselves from HPV (human papillomavirus) and cervical cancer. HPV is a very common infection that spreads through sexual activity, and it causes almost all cases of cervical cancer.

Cervical cancer can often be prevented with regular screening. It can help detect abnormal (changed) cells early before they turn into cancer. Most deaths from cervical cancer could be prevented by regular screenings and follow-up care.

The factors that increase your risk of cervical cancer include history of smoking, Chlamydia, being overweight, long-term use of birth control pills or IUD use, having multiple full-term pregnancies and family history of cervical cancer.

The good news is that as many as “93 percent of cervical cancers could be prevented by screening and HPV vaccination”.