News and Stories: Planned Parenthood of Indiana Recognizes National Cervical Cancer Awareness Month By Urging Women to Get Regular Checkups

Making New Year’s resolutions?  As part of Cervical Cancer Awareness Month, Planned Parenthood of Indiana (PPIN) is urging women in the Hoosier state to put preventive checkups, including cervical cancer screenings, at the top of their lists. 

Every year, approximately 13,000 women in the U.S. are diagnosed with cervical cancer, and about 4,000 American women die of the disease.  

“The New Year is the perfect time to see if you’re due for a checkup,” said Liz Carroll, PPIN’s vice president of patient services.  “Regular screenings and preventive care, including the HPV vaccine, are the keys to combating cervical cancer.”

PPIN’s 28 health centers in Indiana offer routine cervical cancer screenings and the HPV vaccine, which protects against the types of HPV that most often cause cervical cancer.  Last fiscal year alone, PPIN provided nearly 12,000 cervical cancer screenings to women across the state.

Worldwide, cervical cancer is the third most common cancer among women and the fourth leading cause of cancer deaths among women.  In the U.S., Latinas and African-American women are at higher risk for developing and dying of cervical cancer because they are less likely to have access to early screening and treatment.    

“The good news is that cervical cancer is one of the most preventable cancers out there,” Carroll said.  “When caught early, the five-year survival rate is nearly 100 percent.”

“Cervical cancer takes many years to develop, so regular Pap tests can help detect abnormal cells early enough to prevent the disease.  HPV vaccination before sexual activity begins and regular Pap tests are the best ways to protect yourself against cervical cancer,” Carroll added.

Planned Parenthood’s guidelines call for initial screening at age 21; screening every two years for women aged 21–29; and screening every three years for women aged 30 or older who have had three consecutive normal Pap tests and no history of certain abnormalities.

As the state’s most trusted provider of women’s health care, nearly 80,000 patients annually depend on PPIN for quality, affordable health care.  Planned Parenthood is the nation’s leading health care provider and advocate, serving nearly three million patients annually through its health care service providers, and another 1.2 million through educational programs.  One in five women has turned to Planned Parenthood at some point in her life for professional, nonjudgmental, and confidential care.