In recognition of January as National Cervical Health Awareness Month, some providers will be offering free screening services to encourage more women to have an annual pap smear test. Women who have not had a pap smear for three years can receive a free pap test on January 12 from participating providers.
Early detection saves lives.
About one-fourth of women who responded to the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey conducted by the Tennessee Department of Health in 1999 reported that they had not had a pap smear in the past year, while almost eight percent said they had never had one. Cervical cancer is one of the most common types of cancer worldwide, and one of the most treatable. The American Cancer Society estimated that last year 12,800 cases of invasive cervical cancer would be diagnosed in the U.S. and about 4,600 women would die from the disease. They also report that between 60 and 80 percent of American women with newly diagnosed invasive cervical cancer did not have a pap smear in the past five years or may never have had one. The Food and Drug Administration has approved recent advances developed to enhance pap smear sensitivity.