January is Cervical Health Awareness Month

The U.S. Congress designated January as Cervical Health Awareness Month. Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the name of a group of viruses that infect the skin. There are more than 100 different types of HPV. However, this cancer can almost always be prevented through regular screening and, if needed, treatment of abnormal cell changes.

Approximately 6 million new cases of sexually transmitted HPV occur in the U.S. each year, with at least 20 million people estimated to be currently infected. Most people with HPV, though, do not know that they are infected.

Founded in 1996, The National Cervical Cancer Coalition (NCCC) is a growing coalition of people coping with cervical cancer and HPV related issues.

LifeScience Moment: First Birthday Balls to raise funds for the Warm Springs Foundation was held on FDR's birthday.

On Jan. 30, 1934, the First Birthday Balls to raise funds for the Warm Springs Foundation was held on FDR's birthday. When Franklin Roosevelt contracted polio in 1921, at age thirty-nine, it inspired his interest in medical philanthropy. When he heard about the therapeutic value of the thermal mineral baths at Warm Springs, Georgia, Roosevelt went there and ended up buying the site and creating a foundation in 1927. He persuaded his friend and New York City law partner Basil O’Connor to run it.

After Roosevelt became president in 1933, O’Connor co-coordinated Birthday Balls that took place on Roosevelt’s birthday each January and raised money for the care of polio patients. These were so successful that in 1938 they were merged into a nationwide organization, the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, later renamed the March of Dimes.

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Science Quote

"Those people who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do."