Jade Goody, Cervical Cancer and the U.S.

Watching Jade Goody’s very public demise from cervical cancer has been a strange cultural study of the U.K. Cervical cancer is the most preventable form of cancer, and yet a 27-year-old is dying from it on a popular reality-TV show.

Her death is so … unnecessary, but it says something about the British attitude towards health.

In the U.S., pap smears to detect viruses that can cause cervical cancer are recommended on an annual basis. Here in the U.K., the N.H.S. recently sent me a brochure recommending pap smears every three years.

Three years! That’s a long, long time. If a woman was to get a virus that could turn into cervical cancer, three years is late in detection, and possible life-saving treatment.

These days, there’s even a HPV (human papilloma virus) vaccine available, which is garnering controversy in the U.S. because the immunization is now required for all females between the ages of 11 and 26 years old seeking permanent residency in the U.S. About 70 percent of cervical cancers are caused by strains of HPV. The virus can also lay latent in a woman’s body for 10 to 20 years so a woman should continue to get tested even if they think there is no need.

Women in the U.K. can pay for the vaccine, which consists of three injections over a course of six months. But there are rumours the injections can cost as much as 500 pounds.

But a simple routine pap smear can help prevent a life from snuffing it early.