Via PixNio
Black women are dying of a preventable cancer — and it’s getting worse. According to Human Rights Watch, cervical cancer deaths in Alabama increased by over 30% since 2010!
Cervical cancer is caused by HPV, a sexually-transmitted infection that is EXTREMELY common. But there’s a vaccine that prevents HPV. So why aren’t Black women getting it?
One reason is that states where more Black people live often have worse health care systems. Getting vaccines and gynecological care often costs money or requires health insurance.
Many of those same states rejected the Obamacare Medicaid expansion, which would’ve made the government cover 90% of those costs.
“We should never, ever see cervical cancer. Not in the United States,” Dr. William Stevens, a gynecologist in Selma, Alabama, told The Guardian.
HPV is so easy to prevent that cervical cancer should be a thing of the past. The Center for Disease Control estimates that if every child in America got the HPV vaccine, cervical cancer would be almost completely eliminated in under 20 years!
Make sure you and your family are safe — see your doctor about getting vaccinated against HPV!