The California Medical Association (CMA) Foundation is joining forces with other health advocates across the nation to promote "Cervical Health Awareness Month" in January.

Cervical cancer is the second most common form of cancer worldwide, causing 4,000 deaths a year in the United States and 250,000 across the globe. in California, each year nearly 1,400 California women are diagnosed with cervical cancer and 400 die from the disease.

Cervical cancer is one of the few cancers that can easily be detected through inexpensive screening or prevented by a vaccine. Most cases of cervical cancer are caused by the Human Papillomavirus (HPV). Millions of American women are infected with HPV, but due to its often symptomless nature, a woman can be unaware of her risk of developing cervical cancer.

At a recent Cervical Cancer and HPV Vaccine Summit, the CMA Foundation launched the California phase of a nationwide "Cervical Cancer-Free" campaign. The campaign aims to reduce the prevalence of cervical cancer through increased screening and vaccination.

California's campaign will focus on Latinas and other groups at greatest risk, and those with continued high rates of cancer and low rates of screening and prevention. a comprehensive array of resources for physicians, other health care providers and consumers, including online clinical education resources and multilingual patient education materials, are available at the CMA Foundation website.

The foundation is also conducting a brief survey of California health care providers on their current practices and challenges related to HPV vaccination. The data will be used to create better clinical resources for HPV vaccination.

This survey takes only 15 minutes to complete and all responses will be kept confidential. At the end of the survey, there is an opportunity to enter a raffle for a chance to win one of two $100 VISA gift cards. If you are a primary care provider or a women's health care provider, please take the survey.