Lt. Governor, Health Professionals Kick Off Education Campaign To End Cervical Cancer In Our Lifetime

Wilmington, DE - Lt. Governor John Carney was joined by health professionals today in announcing the "Ending Cervical Cancer in Our Lifetime" campaign. Delaware is one of 10 states piloting the program. The announcement was made at The Woman's Place, a St. Francis Hospital Health Care Boutique, which recently opened and focuses on women's health care.

Joining the Lt. Governor in kicking off the initiative were Dr. Janice Tildon-Burton, president of the Medical Society of Delaware, Dr. Molly McBride of The Woman's Place, and Dr. Nicholas Petrelli, Medical Director of the Helen F. Graham Cancer Center.

The program's goal is to educate women on the direct connection between the human papillomavirus (HPV) and cervical cancer. In fact, HPV causes 99.7 percent of all cervical cancer cases.

"This is one of those rare instances when we can eliminate a terrible disease," said Carney, who also chairs the Delaware Health Care Commission and serves on the Delaware Cancer Consortium. "We know that this disease is preventable. We need to make sure every woman knows that."

The initiative uses a simple brochure and a bracelet kit to help women make the connection between HPV and cervical cancer. The brochure details prevention, screening and new technologies, including vaccines, that can help women avoid HPV and cervical cancer. The bracelet, which is meant to be put together by women, is symbolic of making the connection and also serves as a distraction for some who might find the subject matter uncomfortable.

"The Medical Society of Delaware recognizes that education efforts like this one are critical in the fight to end cervical cancer," Dr. Tildon-Burton said. "Our female patients must be educated on the benefits of routine screening and prevention. If we do so, this disease can be all but eliminated."

The brochures and bracelet kits will be distributed with the help of the Medical Society of Delaware, the Federal Qualified Health Centers in Delaware and State service centers.

"We talk about HPV and cervical cancer with every one of our patients," said Dr. Molly McBride. "Some of the difficult outcomes we see could be avoided with prevention and screenings. The frustrating thing is that this is clearly a preventable disease."

According to the National Women's Health Resource Center, while the death rate from cervical cancer in the U.S. has decreased, the rate of invasive cervical cancer has risen. It's an avoidable increase considering that more than half the women who now develop cervical cancer have either rarely or never had a Pap test.

"Any effort like this is a welcome one as we continue to address cancer in Delaware," Dr. Nicholas Petrelli said. "There is a tremendous amount of great work going on and we're making progress, but there is no substitute for an educated patient who takes prevention and screenings seriously."