Reps. Sarah Roberts, Driskell, Jenkins, Canfield, Vaupel, Garcia, Cox, Schor, Robinson, Byrd, Wittenberg, Hoadley, Pagan, Derek Miller, Darany, Liberati, Greig, Plawecki, Hovey-Wright, Neeley, Garrett, Faris, Moss, LaVoy, Kivela, Brunner, Chang, Yanez, Cochran, Guerra, Lane, Chirkun, Gay-Dagnogo, Singh, Love, Irwin, Callton, Goike, Inman, Muxlow, Bizon, Maturen, Hughes, Crawford and Geiss offered the following resolution:

House Resolution No. 202.

A resolution to declare January 2016 as Cervical Cancer Awareness Month in the state of Michigan.

Whereas, Cervical Cancer Awareness Month is an effort to encourage and promote the efforts of people and health care practitioners in the state of Michigan to increase awareness about cervical cancer, including the early detection, prevention, risk factors, and early warning symptoms and signs of the disease; and

Whereas, Cervical cancer is the second-leading cancer among women worldwide; and

Whereas, In the United States, the American Cancer Society (ACS) estimates that approximately 12,900 cases of cervical cancer will be diagnosed and approximately 4,100 women will die from cervical cancer every year; and

Whereas, In Michigan, 350 women were diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2015; and

Whereas, Cervical cancer is preventable through regular screenings and certain cervical cancers may be preventable through human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination; and

Whereas, Cervical cancer is almost 100 percent curable if diagnosed and treated early as  it is one of the most successfully treatable cancers with a five-year survival rate of percent; and

Whereas, Invasive cervical cancer is almost totally preventable by routine screening as the high incidence of death from cervical cancer is due mainly to a lack of access leading to the early detection procedures available to women; and

Whereas, The American Cancer Society recommends that all women who have reached 21 years of age and those who are or have been sexually active,  regardless of age, should be screened regularly for cervical cancer; and 

Whereas, Spreading awareness of cervical cancer, its risk factors, and the importance of access to preventative measures, including regular Pap tests and the HPV vaccination, are critical to perpetuating the continual decrease of the incidence of cervical cancer in women; and

Whereas, It is imperative that there be greater public awareness of this serious health issue and more must be done to increase activity at the local, state and national levels to support the patients as well as their families; now, therefore, be it  

Resolved by the House of Representatives, That the members of this legislative body declare January 2016 as Cervical Cancer Awareness Month in the state of Michigan. We  encourage prompt access to preventative services and medical care in order to overcome barriers to care and treatment for cervical cancer.