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Cervical cancer related deaths continue to drop

January is Cervical Health Awareness Month, which means organizations are talking about cervical cancer, HPV and prevention.

Over the past few decades, deaths related to cervical cancer have decreased significantly. In 1976 the New York State Department of Health reported over 1300 cases. In 2013, there were fewer than 900. Eighty percent of women based in upstate New York get the recommended screenings, according to an analysis by Excellus BlueCross BlueShield.

“It’s certainly good news, but it also reflects that there’s additional patients, which is the reason for this awareness and focusing on cervical cancer now, again, in January 2017. Because there’s still 1 in 5 women who aren’t meeting the current recommendations for screening,” says Dr. Jamie Kerr, medical director with Excellus BlueCross BlueShield.

Current recommendations say women between the ages of 21 and 65 should go for a screening every 3 years.

“Certainly the HPV vaccination has only been available for the last 10 years. So this trend, this decrease is really attributed to Pap smears,” Kerr added. 

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Karen Shakerdge covers health for WXXI News. She has spent the past decade asking people questions about their lives, as a documentary film producer, oral historian and now radio reporter.