Who is at risk?

Every woman is at risk. 

HPV, a sexually transmitted infection, is a type of virus that lives in the skin or mucous membranes which usually causes no symptoms.

The usual symptoms of cervical cancer may include vaginal bleeding, discharge, urinary or gastrointestinal pain, lesions or tumor.  Nevertheless, 18% of the time, there are no signs and symptoms until it is too late.

Some women get visible genital warts or have pre-cancerous changes in the cervix.  However, advances in science now provide us a means to prevent HPV infection with immunization and to detect and treat precancerous lesions after infection has occurred.

Cervical cancer will most likely afflict a woman who:

1. had sex soon after her first menstruation
2. has or had multiple sexual partners
3. has or had exposure to sexually transmitted infection
4. has or had five children or more
5. is a previous or current smoker
6. has poor immunity and resistance to the disease

The good news is that there are ways to help prevent cervical cancer.