Cervical Cancer Awareness Month - January 2019

January is Cervical Cancer Awareness Month, which provides a chance to raise awareness about cervical cancer, and the HPV vaccine that can help prevent it, and other cancers, from ever developing. Every year in the United States, HPV causes 10,800 cases of cervical cancer. Fortunately, HPV vaccination could prevent most of these cancers. Cervical cancer is just the tip of the iceberg Every year in the United States, there are nearly 300,000 cases of high-grade cervical lesions, which may require invasive testing and treatment. HPV also causes cancers of the vagina and vulva in women; cancers of the penis in men; and cancers of the anus and oropharynx (back of the throat) in men and women. In total, HPV causes 33,700 cases of cancer in men and women every year in the U.S. HPV vaccination could prevent more than 90% of these cancers, 31,200 cases every year, from developing. While doctors routinely screen for cervical cancer, there are no recommended cancer screening tests for the other types of cancers caused by HPV infections. These cancers may not be detected until they cause health problems.

Educate parents and clinicians on the benefits of HPV vaccination HPV is so common that nearly all men and women get it at some point in their lives. CDC resources  are available to assist in the educating parents on the burden of disease associated with HPV and the benefits of vaccination. Share CDC’s new graphics on 6 Reasons to Get the HPV vaccine for Your Child with parents to educate them on the benefits of the HPV vaccine. Share CDC's HPV Iceberg Infographic with clinicians to educate them on burden of disease caused by HPV and the benefits of HPV vaccination, Order CDC materials for printing. Educational resources available for printing include: HPV Iceberg Infographic (publication ID: 300538) HPV Vaccine Safety Fact Sheet (publication ID:300193) Tips and Timesavers for Talking to Parents about HPV Vaccine(publication ID: 300195) To quickly find resources for printing, visit CDC-INFO on Demand – Publications and type in the publication ID in the search bar. Recommend HPV vaccine for all preteens CDC recommends all girls and boys who are 11 or 12 years old get two doses of HPV vaccine. The vaccination series can be started at age 9 years. Your recommendation is the number one reason parents decide to get HPV vaccine for their child. Recommend HPV vaccine the same way and same day you recommend the Tdap and meningococcal conjugate vaccines. Get CME credit and learn how practicing pediatricians effectively communicate about HPV vaccine in CDC’s new CME “Routinely Recommending Cancer Prevention: HPV Vaccination at 11 and 12 as a Standard of Care.” Check out CDC’s Talking to Parents about HPV Vaccine resource to find effective ways to answer the questions that parents have about HPV vaccination.   Ensure consistent messages about HPV vaccination importance Get your whole office or organization involved in HPV cancer prevention through communicating effectively with parents and partners about HPV vaccination and implementing systems to ensure all preteens are vaccinated. Check out CDC’s article on 5 Ways to Boost Your HPV Vaccination Ratesfor practical and proven strategies that you can implement in your office. See how practicing pediatricians make effective HPV vaccine recommendations, answer common questions from parents, and get the whole office on board in recommending cancer prevention in CDC’s #HowIRecommend video series. Here are additional resources to help educate clinicians and their staff about the importance of HPV vaccination as cancer prevention and how to make effective vaccine recommendations. Hear firsthand what it’s like to be a survivor of HPV cancer in the American Cancer Society’s Survivor video series. Check out AAP’s HPV Champion Toolkit to help you educate other healthcare professionals, discuss HPV vaccination with parents, make necessary changes in your practice to improve HPV vaccination rates.  Download the new app from American Academy of Pediatrics, Academic Pediatric Association, and Kognito. The HPV Vaccine: Same Way, Same Day™ app is a brief, interactive role-play simulation designed to enhance healthcare professionals’ ability to introduce the HPV vaccine and address parents’ concerns. You can download the app on the Google Play Store or the Apple iTunes Store.     CDC Grand Rounds "Cervical Cancer Control in the 21st Century" Tuesday, January 15, 2019 1-2 p.m. (EST) Each year more than 4,000 U.S. women die from cervical cancer, the 4th most common cancer in women worldwide. Over 90% of cases of cervical cancer are associated with human papillomavirus (HPV) and the risk of cancer varies among the different HPV strains.  Fortunately, cervical cancer can be prevented through HPV vaccination and screening, which include Papanicolaou (Pap) and HPV DNA tests. These tests detect abnormal cells before they become cancerous (precancers). Topics include: “Cervical Cancer Control in the 21st Century “HPV Vaccines Are Key to Preventing Future Cervical Cancer” “Novel Tools for Screening in High- and Low-Resource Settings” “Local Perspective: The Challenges of Cervical Cancer Prevention in Border Counties”   Objectives: -List key measures of burden of disease involving morbidity, mortality, and/or cost. -Describe evidence-based preventive -interventions and the status of their implementations. -Identify one key prevention science research gap. -Name one key indicator by which progress and meeting prevention goals is measured.   CDC sessions are open to the public: A live webcast will be available on the CDC Grand Rounds website. Open captions are provided. The link will be live five minutes before the presentation. Sessions are posted 3-4 days after each presentation to the On Demand page of our website.