Austin – State Rep. Dianne White Delisi’s (District 55) bill calling for a strategic plan to eliminate cervical cancer deaths among Texas women by the year 2015 has been signed by Gov. Rick Perry and will go into effect Sept. 1. The new legislation (HB 2475) requires the Department of State Health Services to work with the Texas Cancer Council to identify ways to increase the number of women screened regularly and to review current technologies, including for the detection and prevention of human papilloma virus (HPV), the cause of cervical cancer. The new law comes on the heels of a national report showing that Texas was among the worst-performing states in cervical cancer prevention efforts.

“No woman should die of cervical cancer, because with regular and accurate screening, it should be preventable,” said Rep. Delisi. “This new legislation will help ensure that all women in Texas are screened regularly and that screening programs use the most advanced technologies available, such as HPV testing, which combined with the traditional Pap test, can better identify women needing early intervention to stop the disease.”

According to the report, A Call to Action: the “State” of Cervical Cancer Prevention in America, issued in January by Women In Government, Texas received a rating of “fair,” scoring 25 percent out of a possible score of 100 percent. The report looked at current data in each state for cervical cancer incidence and mortality rates, women’s access to screening using the most up-to-date techniques, and the legislative priority being put on this issue.

Rep. Delisi’s bill stems from her involvement in the national Challenge to Eliminate Cervical Cancer Campaign, launched in 2004 by Women In Government, a Washington, DC-based organization representing state-level elected women officials. The organization’s bipartisan membership seeks to eliminate cervical cancer and is engaging legislators nationwide to help achieve this goal. To date, bills or resolutions addressing cervical cancer prevention have been introduced in 40 states and, of these, have been enacted in 22 states.

According to the American Cancer Society, about 10,370 women in the United States will be diagnosed in 2005 with cervical cancer – including approximately 1,030 women in Texas. The disease will prove fatal to more than 3,700 women this year.

Research shows that approximately half of all cervical cancers occur in women who have never been screened, and 10 percent in women who have not been screened in the last five years. However, 40 percent of new cervical cancer cases are in women who have been screened periodically. Research shows that the Pap is only 51 percent to 85 percent accurate in identifying women needing early intervention to stop the disease. A test for HPV was recently approved by the FDA and increases this accuracy to almost 100 percent when used with a Pap in women 30 and older.

“For the first time in human history it is now within our technological capabilities to eliminate death from one form of cancer. HB 2475 moves us down the road to attaining that goal,” said Delisi.