Cervical Cancer Prevention Week:

Wednesday, 25 January 2012 13:29

Written by Editor

What every woman needs to know

When Big Brother star Jade Goody contracted cervical cancer in 2008.... ....her battle against the illness sparked a sudden rise in the numbers of young women going to be screened but those numbers have plummeted since she died.
A recent survey for gynaecological cancer research charity The Eve Appeal showed women’s awareness of cervical cancer remains “woefully low”. During Cervical Cancer Prevention Week (January 22nd–28th), experts are trying to raise awareness of the illness once more – and urge women to have a regular smear test.

Unlike many cancers, cervical cancer is a largely preventable disease. For under-18s the first step is to get vaccinated: since 2008 in the UK there has been a national programme to immunise girls against the human papilloma virus (HPV), two strains of which are responsible for about 70 per cent of cervical cancer cases.

A similar programme is also in place in Spain. The HPV vaccine does not guard against every form of cervical cancer, so the next step is regular cervical screening, also known as a smear test, where a small sample of cells is taken from the cervix for examination. Doctors recommend women between 25 and 49 should be screened every three years, and those between 50 and 65 every five. The last step is to arm yourself with the facts because vaccination and regular screening are not 100 per cent effective. While there are no symptoms in the early stages, unusual bleeding is often the first noticeable cause for concern.

Other signs include pain in and around the vagina when having sex, an unpleasant smelling discharge, pain when passing urine or, in the more advanced stages, blood in the urine, loss of bladder control, bone pain, leg and kidney swelling and weight loss.