Cervical Cancer Awareness Month

January is Cervical Cancer Awareness Month. One of the most effective tools to prevent cervical cancer is the HPV vaccine. In the 2015 publication of America’s Health Rankings, released in December, we saw a promising increase in HPV uptake in adolescent girls.  As a North Carolinian, I am proud to see NC with the highest adolescent HPV vaccine uptake of any state! Nationwide we are making strides in vaccine uptake among females– up 6%.  However, the vaccination rates are lower for males, and there is wide variability across the states in vaccine rates for both males and females, so there is still work to be done.