January is Cervical Health Awareness Month

Cervical Health Awareness Month

While NCCC is focused on cervical health and cervical cancer prevention all year long, Cervical Health Awareness Month in January is a time where we want to get as many people involved as we can.  The World Health Organization has a plan for the elimination of cervical cancer through vaccination and screening—we can get there! This January, we encourage you to learn more about cervical health and cervical cancer prevention and take steps to help eliminate this preventable cancer.

What Can You Do?

To start, learn about cervical health and cancer prevention. There are two important tools for prevention—HPV vaccination and regular screening.

Vaccination

The HPV vaccine has been around since 2006. In that time, rates of cervical cancer incidence have dropped significantly among vaccinated women. One study from Sweden looked at 11 years (2006 through 2017) and found 90% reduction in cervical cancer incidence compared with the incidence in women who had not been vaccinated. Vaccination prevents cancer! Learn more here.

Screening

The goal of cervical cancer screening—Pap tests and HPV tests—is to find problems, like cell changes, so they can be treated before they turn into cancer.

But sorting through the different types of screening options and the different recommendations can be confusing. What types of options are available? When should screening start? Do you need a Pap test, an HPV test, or both? And how often do you need to be screened? While it can seem complicated, we can break it down for you. Fred and April take you step by step through the different screening options as you choose, learning about each. In the end, they’ll help sort out which screening option is best.

Cervical cancer screening made simple

Learn from Advocates and Survivors

At NCCC, we learn from the stories of survivors and advocates who work to educate others. Award-winning actress Alysia Reiner (Orange is the New Black and Better Things) and gynecological surgeon Karen Tang, MD, talked with NCCC about preventing cervical cancer through education and activism.

Get Involved in Advocacy

As someone who is interested in educating and advocating for increased knowledge of cervical cancer and HPV disease, you can do a lot. You can contact your local media to encourage coverage of Cervical Health Awareness Month, offering this ASHA/NCCC press release. You can also send this proclamation to your mayor, or local legislative office to publicly recognize Cervical Health Awareness Month.

You can also check out the resources on this page—download, display and distribute our cervical cancer awareness month posters and help NCCC and ASHA get the word out on social media.

Check in with a Local NCCC Chapter

NCCC volunteer chapter leaders—many of whom are cervical cancer survivors—are passionate about seeking out opportunities to educate people in their local communities. They bring a true passion to help others and have reached thousands of people across this country through their efforts. You can check here to see if you have a local chapter and see what plans the chapter has for January.

NCCC's Seattle chapter shows how they're lighting it up for #CHAM in January
NCCC's Seattle chapter shows how they're lighting it up for #CHAM in January
The Detroit Chapter's Dunk on Cervical Cancer event
The Detroit Chapter's Dunk on Cervical Cancer event
#TealTuesday in Philadelphia with Chapter Leader Angela Reese
#TealTuesday in Philadelphia with Chapter Leader Angela Reese
The Durham, NC Chapter hosted its 1st Annual 5K event, registering over 75 runners and raising almost $2000
The Durham, NC Chapter hosted its 1st Annual 5K event, registering over 75 runners and raising almost $2000
The amazing Santa Night crew in Montclair, New Jersey! They raised over $5000 at their annual fundraiser to help fund cervical cancer screening and vaccination efforts in their community
The amazing Santa Night crew in Montclair, New Jersey raised over $5000 at their annual fundraiser to help fund cervical cancer screening and vaccination efforts in their community
Oklahoma City Chapter Leader, Mike Hawkins, and Tulsa Oklahoma Leader, Tracy Freudenthaler, collaborated on a booth at the annual Oklahoma Public Health Association conference
Oklahoma City Chapter Leader, Mike Hawkins, and Tulsa Oklahoma Leader, Tracy Freudenthaler, collaborated on a booth at the annual Oklahoma Public Health Association conference

Promote Cervical Health on Social Media

You can help NCCC promote the importance of cervical health and cervical cancer prevention by sharing prevention messages throughout the month that cervical cancer is preventable! In addition to the messages below, you can check out the NCCC Ambassador Toolkit for additional graphics and posts to share.

  • January is Cervical Health Awareness Month. Visit NCCC to learn more. Get involved and make a difference! http://ow.ly/MdJb30760xc 
  • During Cervical Health Month in January ASHA is offering free downloads of our fact sheets and a fotonovela. Get yours today. https://tinyurl.com/2p8hesrh   
  • During Cervical Health Month in January you can download free materials from NCCC. For more go to NCCC. Get involved, make a difference! LINK TO JANUARY PAGE 
  • Not one single woman ever needs to die from cervical cancer. We have the tools we need to prevent this disease so let’s use them. Get involved. Make a difference! Visit the National Cervical Cancer Coalition online https://www.nccc-online.org/  

Download Content to Share

Poster cervical health awareness month
Poster cervical health awareness month
Poster cervical health awareness month

Listen to ASHA’s Sex+Health Podcast

Download or stream episodes from ASHA’s Sex+Health podcast and on HPV-associated cancers.  

The Art and Science of Treating Cervical Cancer

Cervical cancers can be as unique as the patients in whom they’re diagnosed so there’s no one size fits all approach to treatment. In this episode we talk with Dr. Leslie Randall, Division Head of Gynecologic Oncology with the Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center about treatment options like surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, and innovations like immune therapies, as well as the crucial role patients play in the research and clinical trials process

A Conversation on Cervical Cancer with Denise Linton, DNS, RN, FNP, FAANP

Cervical cancer is preventable and that’s something to celebrate. We still have work to do though as some communities – especially people of color and rural residents – tend to be diagnosed with cervical cancer more frequently (and often with a more advanced stage). In this episode with chat with Denise Linton, DNS, RN, FNP, FAANP to explore ways to make medical care more accessible and welcoming for everyone. Dr. Linton also offers insights on the value of clinical trials in developing new therapies and how we can do a better job of making them far more inclusive.

HPV Tests Take Center Stage

It used to be so simple: go for an annual Pap! The venerable Pap is now frequently used as a co-test along with a test for the Human papillomavirus (HPV), the virus that causes almost all cases of cervical cancer. In this episode Dr. Latoya Patterson breaks down the current approaches to screening for cervical cancer including the newest option, HPV primary screening, where an HPV test is used without being paired with a Pap test. The Pap test still has a role, though, so tune in to find out all about it!