Latina Cervical Cancer Rate Twice National Average

Cervical cancer rates in Los Angeles County show that Latinas and Asian women suffer from higher rates of cancer than other groups, according to this report. Women in LA proper also run a higher risk of contracting HPV, a virus which may develop into cervical cancer, than women in the rest of the county.

Los Angeles’ Latinas have a rate of cervical cancer of 14.3 per 100,000 women, nearly twice the national average of 8.1 per 100,000 women. Part of this is due to access to healthcare, obviously. Part of the way to get around this is education, but access is the even bigger issue. There are only so many free clinics to go around and as I’ve found out personally, if you’re strapped financially but not on the brink of starvation, you may not qualify for these programs.

January is Cervical Health Awareness Month. Here’s a place to get more information about this event and here’s some info from the CDC about cervical cancer. For more click here.

All women are at risk for cervical cancer. It occurs most often in women over age 30. Each year, approximately 12,000 women in the United States get cervical cancer.†

The human papillomavirus (HPV) is the main cause of cervical cancer. HPV is a common virus that is passed from one person to another during sex. At least half of sexually active people will have HPV at some point in their lives, but few women will get cervical cancer.