Free Cervical Cancer Screening
ZANESVILLE, Ohio – January was Cervical Cancer Awareness month and M.V.H.C. is helping the women in Muskingum, Morgan, Coshocton, and Guernsey Counties prevent cervical cancer.
The Muskingum Valley Health Center is offering women between the ages of 21 and 65 a free cervical cancer screening. Dr. Bijan Goodarzi said these free screenings are going on now through April and it’s all thanks to the Patient Care Charitable Fund.
“The [Patient Care Charitable Fund] is a fund through M.V.H.C. that is available for those who do not have any insurance or cannot pay for [screenings],” Dr. Goodarzi said. “So we have extended that to our community members who cannot afford that, but we take care of everyone. So it’s regardless of methodology of payment, we’ll take care of you.”
In 1976 about 14 out of 100,000 women were diagnosed with cervical cancer and five of those would die. Now those numbers have decreased to seven out of 100,000 woman are being diagnosed and about 2 of those women die.
“Of those women that are dying most of them have not had a pap smear at all or they’ve not had a pap smear within the last five years,” Dr. Goodarzi said. “So this is a preventable disease and we’re trying to eradicate that.”
Dr. Goodarzi says they’ve learned a lot about the Human Papillomavirus Infection and even though there is no pill to treat H.P.V. there are however vaccinations to help protect children from getting H.P.V. For more information on a free screening call Muskingum Valley Health Center at (740) 891-9000 or (888) 454-5157.
