Last year, almost 140,000 women in Newfoundland and Labrador did not have their annual pap test. Screening would reduce their risk of developing cervical cancer.
Last year, almost 140,000 women in Newfoundland and Labrador did not have their annual pap test. Screening would reduce their risk of developing cervical cancer.
Provincial Director of the Cervical Screening Initiatives Program, Joanne Rose, was joined by cervical cancer survivors, the Honourable Ross Wiseman, Minister of Health and Community Services, and Dr. Susan King, family physician, to officially launch the “Changing the Face of Cervical Cancer” campaign in preparation for Pap Test Awareness Week, which begins Sunday, October 19th.
“Each year we launch Pap Test Awareness Week as an opportunity to raise the profile of Pap testing. This year our focus is to put a personal perspective on cervical cancer,” said Joanne Rose, Provincial Director of Cervical Screening. “Many women will say ‘I am not at risk’, or ‘It cannot happen to me’. This week, five cervical cancer survivors tell their important stories and say, ‘It happened to me. Don’t let it happen to you’.”
The “Changing the Face of Cervical Cancer” campaign consists of a series of posters, print and radio ads, which tell the stories of five cervical cancer survivors. There are accompanied by print directories to promote clinic locations in each region where screening is available.
Improving the rate of cervical screening in the province is of utmost importance to the Provincial Government, which has invested $5.7 million dollars in advancing this important women’s health issue. “Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer for women 20 to 49 years of age, but is almost entirely preventable with early detection,” said Minister Wiseman. “Pap Test Awareness Week is an opportunity to bring these important points to light and to encourage women across the province to take an active role in their health by going for a Pap test each and every year.”
To provide easier access to cervical cancer screening, many health care providers have opened their clinic doors to accept any woman for Pap testing, regardless of whether they are a regular patient. “The family physician plays a lead role in promoting screening opportunities for the women that we serve,” said Dr Susan King, a family physician in St John’s. “Together we can reduce the burden of cervical cancer through regular Pap testing.”
Pap Test Awareness Week is coordinated by the Cervical Screening Initiatives Program, which is managed by Western Health. The program educates the public and professionals; recruits women for screening; and is improving the health system infrastructure necessary to provide the highest quality in cervical cancer screening. The Cervical Screening Initiatives Program was started in January 2003.
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Media Contacts:
Heidi Staeben-Simmons Glenda Power
Director of Communications, Director of Communications
Western Health Department of Health & Community Services
709-637-5252 709-729-1377, 685-1742