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I was made known of the human papillomavirus (HPV) a few years ago, when I went for my regular PAP smear test with my gynecologist. That PAP smear came out to be inconclusive and I had to do another PAP smear three months later. During the three months, I was really scared that I might have gotten some scary virus in my vagina, or worse still, cancer! Luckily, the second test was negative *phew* Funny thing, I used to think that PAP smears were performed to make sure everything in the region was functioning fine, I wasn’t really sure what PAP smear actually checked for (PAP smear checks for cancerous cells inside your vaginal walls).

Regular PAP smear test for girls above 18 years old is very important as it can detect virus or cancer in your vaginal area. Don’t stop reading this post if you are a male reader, it is just as important for you to know about such things so that you can advice your partner for regular PAP smear check!

When the vaccine came out for cervical cancer, my mother was the first few to know about it and recommended (bugged) me to go for it. That was almost 3 years ago and it was very costly for the vaccination jab, it was almost $800 for 3 injections and my mother paid for most of the cost. Luckily, now that the vaccination is so common in Singapore, it only costs $300 to $500 for the full course of injections. Although the vaccination is quite costly, it can save your life! It is definitely not too costly for to prevent yourself against cancer.

Cervical cancer is the 6th most common cancer among women in Singapore, and 1 woman dies every 5 days from cervical cancer. This is the ONLY preventable cancer. It is estimated that 80% of women will come in contact with the virus and it isn’t a virus that can be fully protected by condoms. The moment you become sexually active, you are at risk getting the virus regardless of your lifestyle. HPV is so common (estimated 80% of the population will have it at some point), you do not need to have a lot of sexual partner’s to come into contact with the virus.

This is one of the most meaningful advertorial I have written because I get to spread the word of something that means so much to me and many other women. Even if you are vaccinated for cervical cancer, all women should do their regular PAP smear tests for check just to make sure everything down there is fine. You can do the PAP smear tests at many GP and neighborhood clinics nowadays and it’s really affordable (about $20+). If you are on budget, you can get your PAP smear done at a polyclinic for $15 (subsidized for Singaporeans). Vaccination and regular pap smears are your 100% protection against Cervical Cancer. If you visit www.pocc.sg, you will find a list of doctors that provide the vaccine.

Please share this message with your close friends, relatives and everyone around you, like I have shared with you. What would really be awesome is if Singapore government would provide free or subsidized vaccination for our teenagers just like Australia, Malaysia, Japan and many other countries.
Click here to pledge your promise to protect the women you care about.

Tags: advertorial, cancer, cervical cancer, pocc, vaccination