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January is Cervical Cancer Awareness Month

Learn more and find out how you can help promote lifesaving work.

January is not only the start to a new year, it is also the start of Cervical Cancer Awareness Month. ACS is using this key external moment to remind people that regular screening for cervical cancer can save lives, as these tests can detect cervical cancers before they start, or early – when it may be easier to treat.

Key messages and outreach for the month will focus on people with a cervix, ages 25 to 65, and parents and guardians of children ages 9 to 12. Messages will also focus on: 

  • The ACS belief that everyone should have the opportunity to prevent, detect, treat, and survive cancer, 
  • HPV vaccination is cancer prevention. When given between the ages of 9 and 12, the vaccine can prevent more than 90% of HPV cancers, including most cervical cancers.
  • Messaging will encourage people to talk with a doctor about which tests are right for them or to prevent six cancers with the HPV vaccine.   

Team members and volunteers may notice promotional work around this month in direct mail campaigns, emails, and on ACS brand social media channels. Cancer.org will feature Cervical Cancer Awareness Month during the second half of the month, beginning Jan. 16. The month will also include promotion on the Hard Rock marquee in New York City’s Times Square.

What you should know about cervical cancer: 

  • About 14,100 new cervical cancer cases and about 4,280 cervical cancer deaths occurred in the United States in 2022. 
  • Cervical cancer was once a leading cause of cancer death for American women, but the death rate over the past 50 years has dropped by about 70% with the increased use of screening.  
  • Approximately half of the cervical cancers diagnosed in the U.S. are in women who were never screened, and an additional 10% of cancers occur among women not screened within the past five years. 
  • Cervical cancer incidence and death rates are highest for Black, American Indian, Alaska Native, and Hispanic Latino people.  
  • Non-Hispanic Black women, after controlling for age, stage, histology, and initial treatment type, are 80% more likely to die and have a 30% higher incidence rate than non-Hispanic White women.

What you can do to this month to help: 

Fire Fighter Cancer Awareness Month

January is also Fire Fighter Cancer Awareness Month. ACS will use this key moment to highlight critical messaging for this group. 

What should you know about fire fighters and cancer?

  • Cancer is the leading cause of line-of-duty deaths among fire fighters today.  
  • The number-one cause of cancer among fire fighters is not from the fire itself, but from the occupational exposures to the toxins and carcinogens at the fire scene and exposure to diesel exhaust.  
  • Fire fighters in the United States and Canada are developing job-related cancers at a rate higher than ever before. 
  • ACS has an existing partnership with the International Association of Fire Fighters. This collaboration is providing new resources, tools, and prevention techniques to help protect fire fighters with the hope of preventing future disease.

Team members and volunteers who are interested can learn more about this topic and amplify content from ACS brand channels on social media. 


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