Smear Tests

Today's moan is at the government. Prepare yourselves for a lot of these as I have become quite interested in politics and how tragic our future is going to be if there isn't some kind of change. i.e lying, pompous dickheads out... honest folk with common sense, in.

First on my agenda is the issue of smear tests. I recently joined a facebook group called 'Rosie's Cancer Story'.. it was set up by a girl from South Shields who has a type of cervical cancer and wants to update her friends/family at once about what's happening to her. She also hopes it'll raise awareness about the disease.

(If anyone wants to show their support or follow her journey -> http://www.facebook.com/groups.php?ref=ts#/group.php?gid=247631468067)

She's such a brave girl and I think it's very selfless to publish what's happening to her at such a difficult time. If anything else, it'll also help people who have recently been diagnosed to see what may happen. I can't even begin to imagine what would go through your brain if you were diagnosed with cancer but at least some questions about what to expect will be answered through her diary.

The main focus of today's moan is that the government are refusing to lower the age that woman can have a smear test. Currently, you have to be 25 to qualify for this test yet I read somewhere (can't find the exact reference now) that cervical cancer is one of the biggest killers of women from the ages of 20 to 29. If that's the case then why on god's earth are women from the ages of 20 to 24 not even allowed to be tested???

Furthermore, the HPV vaccine is currently in a "catch-up stage" whereby girls aged between 16 and 18 from autumn 2009, and girls aged between 15 and 17 from autumn 2010 will be vaccinated... what about the rest of us who don't quality for a smear test and are too old to be vaccinated because "it would not be cost effective in preventing cervical cancer"????

Of course the health minister hit back with a plethora of reasons why the age limit should remain at 25 but surely it's worth the risks to get yourself checked out rather than dying of a completely preventable disease? Or if the risks are simply too high, how about researching into a new procedure that's relatively safe?

The reason that this has aggravated me so suddenly is because of a petition that I've been sent to sign. It's from a lady whose 23 year-old daughter passed away from the disease who was due to have her first smear test the year after. This is the message she has written on the petition:

my daughter sadly passed away on 17th august 2009 to cervical cancer aged just 23 years, leaving 2 little girls aged 5 and 18 months. if the age limit hadn't been changed from 20 to 25 in 2004, my daughter would have had her first smear in 2005 and would still be here today. too many young girls under the age of 25 are dying unnecessarily the age limit now needs to be lowered back to 20, please show your support by signing this petition

Imagine if that was your mother, sister, daughter, cousin etc..?

Here's the link to her petition http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/smear20/

This is a slightly more serious moan than I orginally intended this blog to contain but there you are. It's an important issue that wound me up. I abhorrently disagree that a certain regime can dictate my life... deciding at what point I am able to test for cancer, raising tuition fees, cutting back on public spending etc. How about abolishing expenses and paying for your mortgage/commute/duck shelters/porn with your salary like everybody else? I have absolutely no faith in our political parties whatsoever which is a terrifying thought as one of them has to run this country.

Anyway ciao for now, thanks for reading :)
p.s remember to sign the petition!!