Free Screenings for Cervical Cancer Offered

Hoping at last to reduce the county’s incidence of cervical cancer, more than 300 health care professionals and public officials on Friday launched a two-year public health campaign: The Cervical Cancer Prevention and Education Initiative.

Headed by the county’s newly formed Office of Women’s Health, the campaign will offer free Pap smears to women at 29 Department of Health Services centers on Friday and Jan. 28. Appointments for the tests can be made by calling 1-800-793-8090.

Organizers also have begun a public education campaign aimed at high-risk women.

Cervical cancer is among the most preventable and curable cancers if found early. Women 18 and older should be tested annually. However, poverty, lack of insurance and ignorance of the risk prevent too many women from getting those tests, campaign organizers said at a kickoff breakfast downtown.

Los Angeles County’s rate of cervical cancer is particularly high among certain groups, said Kathleen Torres, director of the office of Women’s Health.

Among African Americans, Latinas, Koreans, recent immigrants and older women, the rates can be triple the national rate of 7 cases per 100,000 women. While the overall incidence rate for cervical cancer in Los Angeles County is about 10 cases per 100,000 women, the rate is more than 19 for Latinas, almost 11 for African Americans and more than 9 for Asians.