Cervical Cancer Awareness Month, Health Officials Urge HPV Vaccine

MONROE, La. (KNOE) – January is Cervical Cancer Awareness Month and the Louisiana Department of Health says cervical cancer death rates are higher in northeast Louisiana than in other parts of the country.

According to the LDH, only 23% of children under the age of thirteen have completed the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine in the Monroe area, and about 23% have started but not completed it.

“So these are very low numbers and they are not the lowest among the regions, but they are children if they are vaccinated, boys or girls will never get cervical cancer, or papillomas, all sorts of things, genital warts, it’s really a good thing to do,” said Region 6 Medical Director Dr. David Holcombe.

Holcombe said cervical cancer is one of the only vaccine-preventable cancers, but many children under the age of thirteen have not been vaccinated.

“You have a lot of people who don’t see any interest, there’s also a fair amount of denial among some parents that their children will ever become sexually active and be exposed to HPV, which of course isn’t true at all” , said Holcombe.

Nationally, Holcombe said two-thirds of the population are exposed to HPV once they become sexually active, which is also why it’s important for women to get tested once they reach the age of 21.

“Screenings are so important, starting at age 21, we start doing screenings about every three years,” said Tanasha Varinio, family nurse practitioner. “Be sure to follow up with your primary care provider or gynecologist to follow up on these screenings and make sure you’re vaccinated.”

Varino said each year about 13,000 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer in the United States, but if diagnosed early, it can be cured.

“It’s a curable disease, but what happens is people don’t get the preventative care and then they’re diagnosed late or not at all,” Holcombe said.

Men cannot get cervical cancer, but they can get HPV which can lead to throat and neck cancer. This is why Holcombe emphasized the importance of the HPV vaccine for both men and women, ideally before becoming sexually active.

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