Health

What is cervical cancer?

by Paul Conneally | September 3, 2008 at 07:24 am

232 views | 2 Recommendations | 2 comments

This week see's the start of the UK government's campaign to fight cervical cancer by offering free inocculation against the virus that causes it to all female children between 11 and 18 years old starting with the youngest. This could see deaths from cervical cancer drop dramatically.

There are some moralists who are against providing the vaccination to girls claiming that it will increase promiscuity when they realise that it protects against HPV but the overwhelming feeling in the UK for this public health move is positive.

Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer in women under 35 in the UK after breast cancer.

Around 2,800 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer each year, with more than 1,000 women dying of the disease annually.

The cancer develops in the cells lining the cervix, which is the canal which connects the uterus to the vagina.

There are two main types of cervical cancer - squamous cell cancer and adenocarcinoma - named after the type of cell that becomes cancerous.

The primary cause of cervical cancer is the virus Humanpapillomavirus (HPV), which is a common infection transmitted through sexual intercourse.

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abrideu

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 09:52 on September 3rd, 2008

LotusFlower, I like this story. It's good stuff.

Every life saved makes it worth the effort of

Paul Conneally

at 09:58 on September 3rd, 2008

Thanks for the Flag, Yes - I think that the vaccine is said to be 70% effective in preventing cervical cancer - which is good - be great if we could develop something 100%