A new report by the CDC suggests not enough women are getting screened for cervical cancer, leaving them at risk of developing the disease that kills more than 4,000 women each year.
Both pap smears and HPV testing can help doctors catch cervical cancer in its earliest stages -- before it's too late. Most health organizations recommend women have a pap smear done every three years once they turn 21 year old. Likewise, cancer organizations say women between the ages of 30 and 65 should have both a pap smear and HPV test done every five years.
But the new Vital Signs report, put out this month by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, says eight million women (11 percent of women ages 21 to 65) haven't been screened for cervical cancer in the last five years. The percentage numbers are higher for women without health insurance or a regular primary physician; they're also higher for older women, Asians, Pacific Islanders, American Indians and Alaskan Natives.
"Every visit to a provider can be an opportunity to prevent cervical cancer by making sure women are referred for screening appropriately," CDC Principal Deputy Director Ileana Arias said in a statement Wednesday. "We must increase our efforts to make sure that all women understand the importance of getting screened for cervical cancer. No woman should die from cervical cancer."
The report follows a previous CDC warning that the human papillomavirus virus (HPV) vaccine is widely underused. Studies suggest the vaccine could prevent some 93 percent of a cases of cervical cancer.