Cervical cancer is a type of cancer that affects the cervix, which is the lower part of the uterus. A Pap test is a screening test that abnormal cells in the cervix and its precancerous stages.

Cervical cancer is one of those cancers that people don't talk about, it's not a dinner table conversation. It's not something that people want to talk about because it's uncomfortable.

HPV is a virus that affects the majority of the population. It is necessary to understand that HPV is a virus that everyone is exposed to, and it's not something to be ashamed of.

There are many barriers that prevent women, especially black women, from getting regular screenings. Mindset and thought processes are a significant barrier.

But I didn't I didn't know that there was even different types of chemo had no idea and sometimes you have to be that person that says look you know especially like we treat the people at Walmart when we mad because they won't go in the back and find something you ain't got to be ugly but you can ask questions say excuse me I don't understand this right this makes absolutely no sense to me now don't be ugly because they won't let you stay but you know be nice but ask some questions it's okay you don't know it that's not your profession

We have our general support groups, we have um two or three different support groups that are set up that way so that you can talk to people that understand you

Cervical cancer is one of the only cancers that has a screening component that would prevent the cancer from occurring

relying on the information we receive from our patients you know I believe that um an informed patient makes informed decisions right what they do and but if we don't inform them and sometimes those information comes from different places sometimes it's not just the physician it's from a family friend it's from a pastor or Aunt that's saying hey check this information out or in your circumstance it's from someone I think your voice is so impactful it's in many ways more impactful than my voice because you've been through it you know you have survived cervical cancer

Kimberly reminds us that behind every statistic is a real person a real story so we want to take a look at the health care policies shaping cervical cancer care in our community as we begin our policy in women's segment

Pennsylvania's alarming position as the state with the sixth highest cervical cancer incidents and the fifth highest mortality rate nationally two critical policy initiatives could help address this crisis

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