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PROPOSED RESOLUTION
HONORING EQUAL HOPE AND RECOGNIZING JANUARY AS CERVICAL HEALTH AWARENESS MONTH IN COOK COUNTY
WHEREAS, the United States Congress designated January as Cervical Health Awareness Month; and
WHEREAS, cervical cancer is still the second most common type of cancer for women worldwide and nearly 13,000 women in the United States are diagnosed with cervical cancer each year with more than 4,000 women dying as a result of this diagnosis, but the disease is preventable with vaccination and appropriate screening such as Pap and HPV tests; and
WHEREAS, the occurrence of cervical cancer in Chicago is 39% higher than the national average and the death rate is 60% higher, according to data from the National Cancer Institute; and
WHEREAS, HPV is the #1 cause of cervical cancer; however, HPV vaccines can help prevent infection from both high-risk HPV types that can lead to cervical cancer and low risk types that cause genital warts; and
WHEREAS, the CDC recommends all boys and girls get the HPV vaccine at age 11 or 12, but vaccination is available through age 26; and
WHEREAS, the vaccine produces a stronger immune response when taken during the preteen years, and it is for this reason that up until age 14, only two doses of the vaccine are required; and
WHEREAS, young women and men can get the vaccine up to age 26, but for those 15 and older, a full three-dose series is needed; and
WHEREAS, it's important to recognize outstanding work being done here in Illinois and Cook County by our community partners such as Equal Hope; and
WHEREAS, Equal Hope is a not-for-profit organization originally set up in 2008 as the Metropolitan Chicago Breast Cancer Task Force after the publication of disturbing research that showed that Chicago had large and growing racial disparities in breast cancer mortality; and
WHEREAS, women of color are disproportionally affected with Black and Latina women nearly three times more likely to die of cervical cancer than whi...
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