Preventing the most preventable female cancer

Not long ago, a friend called me in a panic: “My daughter just had an abnormal Pap test, do you know what that means? Is it cervical cancer?” he asked, his voice trembling. What I knew was that an abnormal Pap smear could have various explanations so I urged him to wait for more information by their doctor before jumping to conclusions. Eventually, it turned out, his daughter had a precancerous condition due to an HPV (Human Papilloma) virus infection. She was lucky to catch it early and be able to treat it and we all soon learned that HPV infection is the main cause of cervical cancer today.

This Cervical Cancer Awareness month, we invited HPV Hope, a local non-profit committed to reducing HPV related stigmas and advocating for education and prevention of HPV and HPV related cancers, to share with us empowering information on the subject as part of our new Local Advocacy – Awareness Partnerships series.

HPV Hope put together, just for WASHAA, a comprehensive post that covers local prevention and testing resources for people with or without health insurance, available HPV vaccines and insurance coverage, as well as support groups and open clinical trials for everyone interested in beating the “easiest female cancer to prevent” according to the CDC.

Read this great post on local HPV and Cervical Cancer resources. 

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