LSU Health New Orleans unveils its plan to reduce cervical cancer cases in Louisiana by 2035. They are partnering with Louisiana Cancer Prevention and Control Programs and other local and regional partners to implement the Bayou Blueprint, Louisiana’s Path to Ending Cervical Cancer.
The plan consists of three main pillars. Dr. Donna Williams, the associate director for the LSU LCMC Health Cancer Center says the first one is prevention through the HPV vaccine.
“We’ve had a very safe, an extremely effective vaccine for over a decade now, for HPV, which is a cause of 99% of cervical cancers or more,” Williams said.
The plan aims to increase HPV vaccination rates among Louisiana girls between the ages of 13 to 17 from the current 67-percent to 80-percent by 2035.
Dr. Williams says the second pillar is screening and early detection.
“We have a new test that’s been available for about a year now, and that’s a self collection test that woman can do it any doctor’s office, they don’t have to be at the gynecologist to get the test anymore,” Williams said.
The Bayou Blueprint targets an increase in up-to-date cervical cancer screening among Louisiana women ages 21 to 65 from 74% to 80% by 2035.
Williams says the third pillar is follow-up and treatment.
“We want to make sure that every woman who has an abnormal result has access to the doctors and nurses they need to get treated because cervical cancer and pre-cancer is completely treatable and completely curable,” Williams said.
The initiative targes 80% adherence to follow-up care after abnormal screen results by 2035.
Currently, the cervical cancer rate in Louisiana is 8.9 cases per 100-thousand women. Williams says the goal is to reduce that rate to less than three cases per 100-thousand, which would make it so rare that it would be considered eliminated.
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