TAZEWELL COUNTY, Ill. — The new year is here, and the Tazewell County Health Department is reminding the community that January is Cervical Cancer Awareness Month.
More than 11,000 women in the United States get cervical cancer every year.
Sara Sparkman, Communications Manager for the Tazewell County Health Department, said that cervical cancer is very easily prevented.
“It’s an annual screening, the Pap test that women can get,” Sparkman said. “If women don’t have insurance and they would like to receive a Pap test, they can call out to the Health Department and we can arrange that.”
Besides the Pap test, the HPV (human papillomavirus) vaccine can prevent HPV which causes cervical cancer.
“So, if pre-teens (11-12) receive the vaccine then they will not get the cervical cancer,” Sparkman said. “The more pre-teens, boys and girls, that are vaccinated with [the] HPV vaccine, that will also help to reduce the number of cervical cancer cases in the future.”
Young adults can also receive the vaccine at the Tazewell County Health Department if they did not get the vaccine as a pre-teen or teenager.
Sparkman said it is very important for women to get screen and be tested for cervical cancer because it is curable.
“But, a lot of women feel like, I don’t have time, I don’t want to do it, it’s uncomfortable, or whatever. But, by putting it off a lot of times it allows that cancer to grow and spread,” she said.
With the new year, Sparkman said the Health Department is really encouraging women to take care of themselves and get tested.
“It’s a new year. It’s a time to put yourself and your health first and to get those screenings,” she said.
To help with women’s health, testing for breast cancer and cervical cancer are bundled together at the TCHD.
“We try to encourage women if they call out to the Health Department and they are looking for help with a mammogram, then we also encourage them to take that next step and get a cervical cancer screening as well,” Sparkman said.
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