January is National Cervical Cancer Awareness month and the Utah Department of Health is not taking excuses from women who haven't received the human papilloma virus vaccine.

HPV, a common sexually transmitted disease, is the main cause of cervical cancer. Approximately 50 to 80 percent of sexually active adults have been exposed to HPV, but most of the time it shows no symptoms and goes away without treatment. Some women, for unknown reasons, get a persistent HPV strain that leads to cervical cancer. Cervical cancer can cause infertility and if left untreated, leads to death.

In April 2007, Jon Huntsman Sr. donated $1 million to fund low-cost vaccines for Utah women ages 19 to 26. The low-cost vaccine became available to Utah women in August 2007.

Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who associate STDs with sexual promiscuity may not give the HPV vaccine a second thought. They don't worry about contracting STDs because they live clean, moral lives and plan on being intimate with only one person.

Kalynn Filion of the Utah Department of Health Cancer Program acknowledges that young adults don't think anything can go wrong in their lives. But she reminds people that the sole purpose of vaccines is to protect from bad scenarios.

"If you can do anything to prevent it [cervical cancer], you should," Filion said. "There's just no excuse."

Karilyn Henshaw, a UVSC student, didn't know much about the HPV vaccine, but liked the idea of a vaccine that can prevent cancer.

"I'm deathly afraid of getting cancer so obviously I would jump at the opportunity to get it [the vaccine]," Henshaw said. But since the vaccine prevents against a STD, she said she probably wouldn't get it even if it were at her door for free because of her lifestyle choice of morality.

Corie Hawks, a BYU senior, said, "Preventing cancer and STDs are in two separate categories for me. Do I want to prevent cancer? Yes. Do I want to prevent STDs? That's just not applicable to me."

Similarly, Emily Rytting, a BYU senior, said, "If I were not a member [of the church] and sexually active, I'd get this."

The vaccine is given in three doses over a six-month period. The cost of the vaccine is normally $360 ($120 per dose), but because of Huntsman's donation, it is available to women ages 19-26 with little or no health insurance for under $15 per dose. Visit www.utahcancer.org/prevent for a list of clinics that offer the low-cost vaccine.

Facts About HPV vaccine and Cervical Cancer:

* 99.7percent of cervical cancer cases are caused by human papillomavirus (HPV).

* HPV is spread through any type of skin-to-skin genital contact with a person who has HPV.

* HPV often clears up on its own. If it doesn't, high-risk types of HPV can cause cervical cancer.

* The HPV vaccine protects against the four types of HPV that cause 70 percent of cervical cancers

* The Pap test is the best way to screen for cervical cancer.

Copyright Brigham Young University 23 Jan 2008