Copyright 1999 Federal News Service, Inc.
Federal News Service
MARCH 16, 1999, TUESDAY
SECTION: IN THE NEWS
LENGTH:
1228 words
HEADLINE: PREPARED STATEMENT OF
DR.
SHARYN LENHART
IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT
AMERICAN MEDICAL WOMEN'S
ASSOCIATION
BEFORE THE HOUSE COMMERCE COMMITTEE
HEALTH
AND THE ENVIRONMENT SUBCOMMITTEE
SUBJECT - REGARDING CERVICAL CANCER AND THE
HUMAN
PAPILLOMAVIRUS (HPV)
BODY:
STATEMENT
SUMMARY
- Cervical Cancer is a preventable disease which kills 5,000 women
annually in the United States.
- The primary, cause of cervical cancer is
the human papillomavirus which is a common, sexually transmitted virus that
affects as many as 80% of sexually active women in the United States.
-
Unfortunately, 70% of women are unable to name the cause of cervical cancer.
- To achieve the first major victory in the fight against cancer, American
women and their healthcare providers need more education about cervical cancer,
the importance of regular pap smear screening, and current and cutting edge
tests for the causes of cervical cancer.
- The National Cervical Cancer
Public Education Campaign is a collaborative, educational effort lead by the
American Medical Women's Association and involves representatives from other
women's health and civic organizations designed to reduce the number of
preventable deaths caused each year by cervical cancer through increased
education and outreach.
- The American Medical Women's Association calls on
Members of Congress to demonstrate their support for public education about
cervical cancer by signing on as cosponsors of the Cervical Cancer Awareness
Resolution.
The American Medical Women's Association (AMWA) is a national
medical organization comprised of more than 10,000 women physicians and medical
students. A leading advocate for women's health issues, AMWA is dedicated to
improving the quality of women's healthcare. Since 1915, AMWA members have
advocated for federal legislation, influenced local policy, developed physician
education programs, and spearheaded national consumer education campaigns to
ensure that women patients and women physicians maintain a voice in upholding
the highest standards of care as they relate to women's health.
AMWA
believes that there is an important role for the federal government to play in
improving women's health. We believe this role can he fulfilled through federal
legislation that recognizes the need for women to understand how they can
prevent and detect cervical cancer and through legislation which supports
adequate coverage o cervical cancer screening technologies. Currently,
Medicare reimbursement for pap tests is
inadequate to cover the costs of providing laboratory service. Reimbursement
should be increased to adequately cover costs, ensuring women have access to the
most effective technology for detecting cervical cancer. The majority of deaths
from cervical cancer are unnecessary and preventable.
The Scope of the
problem
Each year in the United States, approximately 15,000 women are
diagnosed with cervical cancer and 5,000 women die of the disease. Since the
introduction of the Pap test over forty-five years ago, U.S. incidences of
cervical cancer have been reduced by 75%. The majority of cervical cancers now
occur in the minority of women who are not adequately screened. Two-thirds of
cervical cancers occur in women who have not been screened. Yet despite this
enormous success, one third of preventable cervical cancer occur in women who
have had a Pap smear in the last five years. Because cervical cancer is a slowly
progressing cancer, often taking ten to fifteen years to develop, regular pap
smear screening combined with new and cutting edge screening tools can lead to
greater success in prevention. The success of cervical screening is that it
detects abnormal cells which can be treated before cancer even develops.
Cervical Cancer and the Human papilloma virus (HPV)
Recent clinical studies
have confirmed that the human papillomavirus (HPV) is the primary cause of
cervical cancer. HPV is a very common virus which can infect anyone who has ever
had sexual intercourse. In most cases, HPV is harmless and people never realize
they have it. It is established that up to 80 percent of women in the United
States contract the virus at some point during their lives. But, only a few of
the women with
HPV will develop cervical cancer. Although infection with
certain types of HPV increases the risk of cervical cancer, most infected women
do not develop cancer. In fact, of the more the 70 types of HPV, only 13 are
associated with cervical cancer. The ability to identify the presence of high
risk HPV may be the key in our efforts to combat this disease. Unfortunately, a
recent survey confirmed that 70 percent of women are unable to name the cause of
cervical cancer. While women should receive regular pap smear screening, in many
cases, these screenings produce borderline results. Of the 50 million Pap smears
performed in the United States annually, 3.5 million produce abnormal results.
Recent studies have shown that as a follow-up to borderline pap smear results,
the use of enhanced screening technologies, including a new test that detects
the presence or absence of HPV, can give a woman's healthcare provider added
information about the cause of her borderline results. Follow-up options can
then be tailored appropriately.
AMWA's Perspective on Cervical Cancer
AMWA believes cervical cancer can be the first major victory in the war
against cancer. We believe that in order to achieve this victory., American
women and their healthcare providers need more education about cervical cancer,
the importance of regular pap smear screening, enhanced screening technologies,
and current and cutting edge tests for the causes of cervical cancer. As an
organization of women physicians, AMWA recognizes the crucial role we play in
leading the fight against this cancer. We are more likely to provide pap smear
screening, inform their patients about cervical cancer, and encourage routine
screening. Essentially, the battle against cervical cancer can only be won with
the two-fold strategy of increasing the number of well-educated, proactive women
consumers and enlisting the help of physicians who encourage routine screening.
AMWA views regular pap smear screening as critical in detecting cervical cancer.
We also regard HPV testing, in the event of a borderline pap smear result, to be
an effective way to provide healthcare providers with important additional
information.
To this end, we have become the lead partner in the National
Cervical Cancer Public Education Campaign. The Campaign is a collaborative,
educational effort involving representatives from leading women's health and
civic organizations designed to inform women about the link between HPV and
cervical cancer, reinforce the importance of regular pap smear screening,
introduce new and existing methods to detect cervical cancer, and empower them
to take an active role in discussing the disease with their healthcare
providers. The goal of the Campaign is to reduce the number of preventable
deaths caused each year by cervical cancer through increased education and
outreach.
Conclusion
AMWA calls on Members of Congress to demonstrate
their support for public education about cervical cancer by signing on as
cosponsors of the Cervical Cancer Awareness Resolution that has been introduced
by Representatives Millerider-McDonald, Lazio and Coburn. The key to winning the
fight against cervical cancer is early detection. We can screen for it, we can
test for HPV, and we can treat it. No woman in this country need die from
cervical cancer. If we all do our part, we can make this a reality.
END
LOAD-DATE: March 18, 1999
