HJR146 Summary

• Declares January as Cervical Cancer Awareness Month in Alabama to recognize cervical cancer as a serious public health problem affecting women in the state.

• Notes that 1 in 145 women in the United States will be diagnosed with cervical cancer during their lifetime, with 190 Alabama women expected to develop the disease and approximately 78 Alabama women dying annually from it.

• Highlights that African-American women are 30 percent more likely to develop cervical cancer than white women and more than twice as likely to die from it, while Hispanic women are twice as likely to develop it as non-Hispanic white women.

• Urges the Alabama Department of Public Health to provide free cervical cancer education, screening, and vaccination services for women.

• Emphasizes that cervical cancer can be prevented through vaccines, detected through screening, and successfully treated with early detection.