CERVICAL CANCER WALK SCHEDULED FOR MAY 17

Friday, May 2, 2008

(PAI)CERVICAL CANCER WALK SCHEDULED FOR MAY 17

   WASHINGTON (PAI)--Unionists nationwide walks on
universal health care won’t be the only workers
tamping the streets on May 17, as the Coalition of
Labor Union Women joins other groups in a walk against
cervical cancer that day, in Washington.

   “Walk To Beat The Clock DC 2008” will occur because
every hour a woman is diagnosed with cervical cancer
and every 2.5 hours one dies. “We must beat the clock
by raising awareness that cervical cancer is almost
always preventable,” CLUW adds.

   Cervical cancer is now treatable with a vaccine and
the point of the walk is to raise awareness of the
vaccine’s availability and to urge women to be tested
for HPV, which could lead to cervical cancer. New
recommendations urge three preventive measures: That
women aged 9-16 receive the HPV vaccine, that women
have a liquid pap test by age 21, and that they have
HPV and pap tests starting at age 30.

   CLUW seeks participants for its team, which will join
other walking teams in tramping around D.C.’s Tidal
Basin and East Potomac Park from 8 a.m.-noon. It
needs at least 10 members, ages 13 and up. The team
with the most participants is eligible for a $2,500
grant to fund cervical cancer education from Qiagen, a
leading maker of diagnostic lab tests.

   The registration deadline is a minute before midnight
on May 11. CLUW’s team can be found at
http://tamikaandfriends.org/btc/aboutthewalk.html.
The registration fee is a $30 donation to Tamika &
Friends, a non-profit that works to educate all women
about HPV and its link to cervical cancer, and
supports women who are fighting this devastating
disease.           ###