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Coalition Promotes Pearl of Wisdom As Worldwide Symbol of Cervical Cancer Prevention

Marking Cervical Cancer Awareness Month in January, the Coalition of Labor Union Women has joined a coalition of women’s health and advocacy organizations in the United States and Europe in a new, united effort to prevent cervical cancer worldwide.
 
The Pearl of Wisdom Campaign to Prevent Cervical Cancer (www.PearlofWisdom.us) will raise awareness of cervical cancer, encourage women to take advantage of the means that are now available to prevent it and work to make sure that these methods are accessible to girls and women around the globe – particularly to the underserved populations that have much higher rates of cervical cancer. A central focus of the campaign is the promotion of the Pearl of Wisdom as the global symbol of cervical cancer prevention, designed to help all groups involved unite behind a core set of messages.
 
“Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer in women around the world, killing nearly 300,000 women worldwide each year, however, this disease is almost completely preventable,” said CLUW Executive Vice President Jean Hervey, who attributes her cancer-free health to information she learned from CLUW about HPV and preventing cervical cancer.
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“Research has established that cervical cancer is caused by persistent infection with a very common virus called the human papillomavirus (HPV), whose presence is seen in 99.7% of all
cervical cancers. So, almost every case of cervical cancer is now preventable through organized screening with Pap tests, HPV tests and immunization programs with HPV vaccines.” 
 
CLUW plans to support the campaign by incorporating it into its ongoing cervical cancer prevention project, Cervical Cancer Prevention Works, which focuses on raising union members’ awareness of HPV’s link to cervical cancer and educating union women on how to prevent this nearly 100% preventable disease. 
 
The Pearl of Wisdom Campaign to Prevent Cervical Cancer was started by the European Cervical Cancer Association, or ECCA (www.ecca.info) which includes 100 organizations from across Europe. In addition to CLUW, the U.S. partners include the American Medical Women’s Association, the American Social Health Association, the Balm in Gilead, the Global Summit of Women, the National Association of Nurse Practitioners in Women’s Health, the National Council of Women’s Organizations, the Society for Women’s Health Research, Tamika and Friends, Women In Government, The Yellow Umbrella Organization, and others.
 
Pearl of Wisdom pins are available at www.PearlofWisdom.us for $6.95 each and are also available in bulk. Proceeds will go to the U.S. Pearl of Wisdom Campaign Fund, dedicated to the support of U.S.-based cervical cancer prevention activities. Visitors can also send “virtual” Pearls of Wisdom to the women in their lives through the website. 
 
“The prevention of cervical cancer is now a realizable goal and the Pearl of Wisdom is the ideal symbol to spread this powerful message. It is my hope that women around the world and, indeed, everyone takes this symbol to heart and supports our united campaign to ultimately eliminate cervical cancer,” said Dr. Anne Szarewski, interim president of the ECCA.
 
About Cervical Cancer
Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer in women worldwide. In the U.S., the American Cancer society estimates that 11,070 women will have been diagnosed with cervical cancer and 3,870 women will have died of the disease in 2008. Cervical cancer is caused by high-risk types of the human papillomavirus (HPV). HPV is a very common sexually transmitted infection that 3 of 4 adults will have at some time in their lives. Most of these infections go away on their own without treatment. Infections that do not go away on their own can lead to cervical cancer.
 
A Pap test is the traditional method used for cervical cancer screening. An HPV test identifies women who are infected with high-risk types of HPV that could potentially lead to cervical cancer. Clinical studies suggest that screening with both a Pap test and an HPV test offers women aged 30 and older the best protection against cervical cancer. An HPV vaccine is now FDA-approved for girls and young women ages 9-26. It has been shown to be 100% effective – in women not previously infected – at preventing infection with the two types of HPV that cause approximately 70% of all cervical cancers. HPV vaccination does not protect against all the HPV types that can cause cervical cancer, however, meaning that women who have been vaccinated still need to be screened to protect against the HPV types that are not covered by the vaccine.
 
About CLUW
CLUW (www.cluw.org) is the only national organization representing U.S. union women. It is committed to four goals of action: to promote affirmative action in the workplace; to strengthen the role of women in unions; to organize unorganized women; and to increase the involvement of women in the political and legislative process.
 
Cervical Cancer Prevention Works (www.cluw.org/cervcancer.html) is funded by an unrestricted educational grant from Qiagen. The project is part of CLUW’s commitment to the empowerment of union women through education.