QUINN AND OLYMPIC STAR JACKIE JOYNER-KERSEE UNITE TO "END CERVICAL CANCER IN OUR LIFETIME"

(CHICAGO) - Today, Lt. Governor Pat Quinn joined Olympic Star Jackie Joyner-Kersee - America's greatest female athlete - to urge every Illinois woman to get screened for cervical cancer.

 

Illinois is one of 10 states embarking on the campaign to "End Cervical Cancer in Our Lifetime" through the National Lieutenant Governors Association. The other states include: Colorado, Delaware, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and Utah.

 

Cervical cancer is caused by certain "high risk" strains of a virus called human papillomavirus (HPV). There are more than 100 different strains of HPV and an estimated 20 million Americans are infected with the virus. While most genital HPV strains clear on their own through a person's natural immune response, the "high risk" HPV strains can cause abnormal cervical cells and cervical cancer.

 

"In Illinois, my home state, more than 640 women will be diagnosed with cervical cancer this year and 190 will die from it," said Jackie Joyner-Kersee, who grew up in East St. Louis, Illinois. "Cervical cancer affects women of all ages, races, and backgrounds - and it's time we join together and work towards ending this disease."

 

"Cervical cancer is detectable, treatable, and curable if found at an early stage," said Quinn.  "I urge every woman in our state to visit her health care provider and be screened for cervical cancer."

 

Quinn and Joyner-Kersee urge uninsured Illinois women to sign up under Governor Blagojevich's recently expanded Illinois Breast and Cervical Cancer Program which gives thousands of women access to free screenings and treatment for breast and cervical cancer. For more information, visit www.cancerscreening.illinois.gov or call the Women's Health-Line at 888-522-1282 or for TTY (hearing impaired use only), 800-547-0466.

 

In the past forty years, with the widespread use of the pap smear, the rate of cervical cancer deaths in the United States has dropped significantly. However, more than 9,700 American women are expected to develop cervical cancer this year, and approximately 3,700 will die from it.

 

Joyner-Kersee, known as the First Lady of Track and Field, has used her position to raise awareness about a number of issues affecting the people of Illinois. Hailed as the best all-around female athlete in the world, Joyner-Kersee has won six Olympic medals: three gold, one silver, and two bronze. She holds the American record for the long jump and with her score of 7,161, Joyner-Kersee was the first woman to earn more than 7,000 points in the heptathlon and has held the heptathlon world record since 1986. Joyner-Kersee is the most decorated woman in U.S. Olympic Track and Field history.

 

Quinn was also joined by State Sen. Debbie Halvorson (D-Crete); Jan Costello, Acting Deputy Director, Office of Women's Health at the Illinois Department of Public Health; and Maria Socorro Pesqueira, President and CEO of Mujeres Latinas en Accion. 

 

            For more information on free screenings for cervical cancer, visit Lt. Governor Quinn's website: www.KeepingIllinoisHealthy.org.