Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer in women and it is also one of the leading causes is cancer deaths among women. Fortunately, this type of cancer is very easy to prevent or to detect in an early stage of development. The main tool to do this, one that has shown to significantly reduce incidence of the cancer, is the regular Pap screening. This test can detect HPV infections and leasions that can lead to cancer. If detected at this stage, the cancer of precancerous conditions are 100% curable. The vaccine against cervical cancer is also an increasingly popular and effective weapon against incidence of cervical cancer.

Because it offers so many options of prevention, the most important thing is to raise awareness and to spread educational material on the subject of cervical cancer and HPV infections so that women are encouraged to schedule themselves for the Pap tests and to ensure that they also take them regularly to give themselves maximum chances against the cancer.



Educational material is a very important element of awareness campaigns. These can spread the word but also give details about the dangers of and risk factors for developing cervical cancer. Such educational material can have a powerful impact on the way young girls will approach the start of their sexual lives and on their laziness and ignorance when it comes to monitoring their health and testing themselves for different affections such as cervical lesions.

Public campaigns are bound to have such brochures and materials to give away but you can also find them in drug stores or in your gynecologist's office. If you have a daughter on the verge of becoming sexually active it would be an inspired decision to give her a brochure or other educational material about cervical cancer. You don't have to scare her, but make sure she takes the information seriously. Needless to say, adult women themselves can benefit from this material. Being a mother should make you more responsible about your health and you can also set an example for your daughter by undergoing a Pap screening yourself.

The National Cancer Institute has been a main source for this material and it also takes the responsibility of up-dating information present in this educational material. Every year about 11.000 women find out they have cervical cancer and the majority of them has never thought of their risks of developing it and many don't even know what it is and how dangerous it can be.



Educational material can include information about causes, risk factors, symptoms, treatment for cervical cancer but can also constitute health guides for women of all ages. As far as cervical cancer is concerned, it is very important to be proactive and to take measures to prevent the disease. This action of keeping women aware of this risk must be a continuous effort so that younger generations are just as conscious about their health as older ones. Statistics have also raised an alarm signal as incidence of cervical cancer has begun to increase slightly in the last years. This means women are beginning to give up or postpone their Pap tests party as a result of becoming less interested in cervical cancer since it is presented as a smaller risk than a few years ago.