Cervical Cancer is Preventable January 13, 2012 CMA, Public Health, SFMS Member cervical cancer, Cervical Cancer-Free Campaign, CMA Foundation, HPV, HPV vaccine 0 By Carol A. Lee, Esq, President & CEO of the CMA Foundation January is Cervical Health Awareness Month and the California Medical Association (CMA) Foundation has joined forces with the CMA and other health advocates to raise awareness about cervical cancer prevention. Cervical cancer is preventable through regular screenings and the availability of the HPV vaccines, and curable, if detected early. Cervical cancer is still the second most common form of cancer worldwide and causes over 4,000 deaths in the US annually. Each year, roughly 1,400 California women are diagnosed with cervical cancer, with between $300 to $400 million spent annually to treat cervical cancer. 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 rate for cervical cancer nationally is 8.1 per 100,000 women with California slightly higher at 8.3. While San Francisco’s cervical cancer rate, at 7.3, is below both the national and California rates, it is still critical to be involved in efforts to prevent cervical cancer because much higher rates are found among Latinas, African American, and Asian women. The CMA Foundation is part of the national Cervical Cancer-Free Campaign, engaged in efforts to increase screening and vaccination and reduce the occurrence of this preventable disease. “Cervical cancer is one of the few preventable cancers that can easily be detected through an inexpensive screening and prevented through vaccination,” stated Dexter Louie, MD, Chair, CMA Foundation Board of Directors and SFMS Past President. Studies show the vaccine has the potential to prevent up to 70 percent of cervical cancer cases annually. Click here for more information on cervical cancer and HPV. Comments are closed.
