Our View: Oklahoma women have more cervical cancer cases but get tested less. Don’t forget to get tested every two years.

When we heard about the Housing Center Student Association fundraiser for the National Cervical Cancer Coalition, we decided to look into Oklahoma’s cervical cancer and testing rates. The numbers are not encouraging.

In Oklahoma, 10.3 out of every 100,000 women were diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2007, the most recent year for which information is available, according to the Centers for Disease Control. The national average was 7.9 per 100,000 women. Even more alarming is the fact that women in Oklahoma are getting tested at a lower rate than the national average.

Pap smears are preventative screenings that help detect cervical cancer, a disease that killed 4,021 women in the United States in 2007.

In Oklahoma, 77.5 percent of women over the age of 18 have had a pap smear in the last three years. Among the state’s black community, the number is even lower: 75.4 percent. The national average is 80.9 percent — and even that has been falling since 2003, according to the CDC.

Women should begin having a pap smear at least every two years after they turn 21 or when they become sexually active, whichever occurs first, according to the CDC. After the age of 30, if a woman’s tests have been normal for a while, her doctor may reduce the frequency of the pap smears. But it still is important to have a yearly pelvic exam to watch for other cancer indicators.

The majority of women on this campus are 21 or older and, nationally, 79.5 percent of college-aged individuals are sexually active, according to the CDC. That means that nearly every woman on this campus should be getting a pap smear at least every two years, along with a yearly pelvic exam.

We know it’s a hassle. It’s just one more thing to remember — and certainly not the most pleasant experience on your to-do list.

But it’s worth it. If the disease is caught and treated during the first stage, the five-year survival rate is 92 percent, according to the American Cancer Society. Overall, the five-year survival rate with treatment is 72 percent. Those aren’t bad chances, but they rely on catching and treating the cancer as early as possible.

So, female Sooners, put a pap smear on your calendar. There’s even an iPhone app for that. Passport to Good Health includes information on a variety of preventative screenings and lets you set reminders throughout the year, along with appointment reminders and other helpful features.

Goddard Health Center offers a variety of women’s health services, including pap smears and annual exams. The prices of these tests are reduced through the Student Health Fee, and they may be completely covered by your health insurance.

And consider getting vaccinated against human papilloma virus. These vaccines protect against the two strains of the virus that cause 70 percent of cervical cancer cases, according to the CDC. The virus is involved in over 90 percent of cervical cancer cases, so if you haven’t had the vaccine, you should talk to your doctor about being tested for the virus.

And all you male Sooners out there, remind the women in your life that this test is an important way to protect themselves against dangerous and often deadly disease. After all, your own time for annual cancer screenings will come.

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