Prevent Cervical Cancer. Get Vaccinated!
Here in the Philippines, an estimate of at least 12 Filipino women die of cervical cancer every day. It is the second most common cancer among women in the Philippines, first being breast cancer and about 6,000 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer each year and about 4,349 die of the illness annually. For some reason, rates are still high even if cervical cancer is preventable . Really, preventable? Yes, mamsh! Cervical cancer is definitely preventable. Before I delve further into what cervical cancer is. Let’s first discuss the virus causing this deadly illness. 𝓦𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓲𝓼 𝓗𝓟𝓥? HPV stands for human papillomavirus . It is the most common sexually transmitted infection . Usually, it goes away by itself but there are some types of HPV that can lead to cancer. HPV can be transmitted via sexual contact – yes, even our mouth and throat. The two most common type of HPV that leads to cancer are type 16 and 18, thus they are called High risk HPV . Cervical cancer is