Cervical Cancer article 2.
Every woman dreads the moment when an envelope comes through the door reminding her that its time for another cervical smear test. A busy life combined with the unpleasantness of the test and an
‘it’ll never happen to me attitude’ means that over thirty percent of women are not attending cervical screening.
Unfortunately however, cervical cancer poses a very real threat. Every year 70 women in Wales alone are killed by this disease. The most frustrating thing about this statistic is that we can
prevent this disease: we just need to raise awareness.
One charity at the frontline of raising awareness is Jo’s Trust: a charity dedicated to all people affected by cancer or pre-cancer of the cervix. This week, Madeleine Moon, MP for Bridgend
attended a Parliamentary Reception hosted by Jo’s Trust to gather support for the ‘Stop Cervical Cancer Petition’. This petition calls on the European Union and the national governments of Europe
to work together to prevent cervical cancer. In many parts of the EU, women do not have access to cervical screening and shockingly one woman dies from cervical cancer every 18 minutes. Please add
your name to the petition at:
www.cervicalcancerpetition.eu
Cervical cancer is caused by the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) which is primarily spread by sexual contact. The virus can cause abnormal cells to appear on the cervix. Most women will become infected
by HPV at some point in their lives but most will fight off the infection within two years, during which time any abnormal cervical cells will also disappear. The problem occurs when some women do
not fight off HPV. In these cases, if not treated, the abnormal cervical cells may progress and eventually develop into cervical cancer
A really exciting breakthrough has been made recently which will see all girls aged between 12 and 13 in the UK being vaccinated against HPV, with a catch up programme to vaccinate those up to the
age of 18. This vaccine will protect against several strains of the HPV Virus and, combined with regular smear tests, can prevent almost every case of this disease.
In Wales we are extremely fortunate that the cervical screening programme begins for women at age 20 rather than the current of age of 25 for women in England. It is vitally important that we raise
awareness amongst young women so that no matter how much they may dread a smear test they take full advantage of this potentially life saving service.
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