Source: The Press Association

Author: Staff


More than one in three girls does not know the causes of cervical cancer despite the “Jade Goody effect”, a new poll suggests.

A total of 38% of girls said they were unaware of the causes even though Goody – a former Big Brother star – raised the profile of the disease.

Goody died in March aged 27 after a battle with the cancer, which had spread around her body.

Anecdotal evidence from across the NHS suggests the number of women attending cervical screening has shot up as a result of her story.

The poll of girls aged 12 to 18 was carried out for GlaxoSmithKline, which makes the Cervarix vaccine to protect against Human papillomavirus (HPV), which causes most cases of cervical cancer.

Of the 255 girls questioned, 5% thought “sexual promiscuity” caused cervical cancer. Another 11% said “a type of virus” caused it but only 6% knew the HPV virus did.

When the findings were compared with a survey of 139 girls aged 16 to 18 carried out before Goody was diagnosed, 40% said they did not know what caused the disease and 6% pointed to HPV.

This could suggest that knowledge about HPV has not increased despite Goody’s diagnosis.

The more recent survey also found that 40% of girls thought a family history of the disease was a major factor in getting cervical cancer.

Girls aged 12 to 13 are currently being vaccinated against HPV as part of an NHS campaign.