Elisabeth Rohm Helps Educate Women About Cervical Cancer By Joining National 'Make the Connection' Campaign During Cervical Cancer Screening Month Campaign Supports Cervical Cancer Awareness and Screening Programs Among Medically Underserved Women by Julia Szabo PRNewswire NEW YORK, Jan. 17 Actress Elisabeth Rohm has joined a national public education campaign, Make the Connection, to increase awareness and understanding of the connection between cervical cancer and its cause, a common virus called human papillomavirus (HPV), during National Cervical Cancer Screening Month. Make the Connection, a collaboration between the Cancer Research and Prevention Foundation (CRPF) and Step Up Women's Network, with support from Merck & Co., Inc., was created to provide tools and facts to encourage women to make the connection with healthcare professionals, friends, daughters, sisters, mothers and other loved ones to share knowledge, get regular screenings and make healthy choices, and inspire each other to beat cervical cancer. "Women have the power to reduce their risk of cervical cancer, which is a very preventable cancer," said Rohm, who appeared on NBC's "Law & Order" for four years and recently appeared in "Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous." "By simply making the connection with our healthcare professionals to ensure we're being screened appropriately, and by making the connection with other women to share knowledge, we're helping to ensure better health for ourselves and the women we care about." Making the Connection The Make the Connection campaign has begun touring U.S. cities to educate women about cervical cancer and HPV on a more personal level, providing information through local healthcare professionals at community events. The events also feature the Make the Connection bead, part of create-it-yourself bracelet kits to help raise cervical cancer awareness and funds for disease education and screening. The bracelet kits are available free through the campaign's Web site and toll free information line -- http://www.maketheconnection.org and 888-4-HPV-CONNECT -- and at Make the Connection beading events across the country. The beading events are designed to bring women together to express their creativity through beading and talk about cervical cancer with other young women who have aligned themselves with the campaign. More information about 2006 tour dates and locations will be available in the near future at http://www.maketheconnection.org. Everyone who orders a free Make the Connection bracelet kit will get two kits, so she can invite someone to join her in showing support against cervical cancer. Included in the kits are educational materials to help women learn more about cervical cancer and HPV. To date, more than 100,000 Americans have already ordered bracelets kits to show their support for cervical cancer education. For every pair of bracelet kits ordered, Merck is donating one dollar to CRPF, up to $100,000, for cervical cancer awareness and screening programs among medically underserved women. Despite the fact that approximately 80 percent of sexually active women will be infected by HPV in their lifetimes, only 46 percent [1646 respondents] of women who participated in a recent survey conducted by the campaign partners had ever heard of the virus, and less than 20 percent [311 respondents] of those women knew about its connection to cervical cancer. Worldwide, cervical cancer is diagnosed in about 500,000 women each year and responsible for more than 280,000 deaths, making it the second-leading cause of cancer death among women globally. In the United States, about 10,000 women will develop cervical cancer this year and more than 3,000 will die from this disease. "What makes cervical cancer unique is that we know that certain types of HPV cause virtually all cases. That is why making the connection between cervical cancer and HPV is critical," says Dr. Amelie Ramirez, Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine Center for Cancer Control Research in San Antonio. "Cervical Cancer Screening Month provides the perfect platform to inform women that if they undergo Pap screening properly and early on, cervical cancer is preventable." "It's tragic that a cancer that is almost always preventable still brings about the deaths of more than 3,000 American women each year," says Carolyn Aldige, President and Founder of the Cancer Research and Prevention Foundation. "Knowledge and early intervention are two of the most powerful resources we have to fight cervical cancer." "We hope these bracelets will encourage women to step up to the issue of cervical cancer not only during the month of January, but all year long," adds Kaye Popofsky Kramer, President /Founder of Step Up Women's Network. "Women need to educate themselves and then make the connection by sharing their knowledge with other women in their lives." About Cervical Cancer and Human Papillomavirus Cervical cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer death among women worldwide. Cervical cancer is caused by certain high-risk types of human papillomavirus (HPV), a virus that spreads through intimate contact and infects approximately 6 million people annually in the United States alone. Infection with high-risk HPV types 16 and 18 is responsible for more than two- thirds of all cervical cancers. For most women, HPV clears on its own, but for some cervical cancer may develop. Pap screenings, simple tests conducted in doctors' offices or clinics to detect changes in the cells in and around the cervix, are one of the most effective ways to prevent cervical cancer. Women should talk to their healthcare providers to schedule regular Pap testing and discuss results with them. For more information on cervical cancer, HPV and the Make the Connection campaign, visit http://www.maketheconnection.org, or call 888-4-HPV-CONNECT. About the Cancer Research and Prevention Foundation The Cancer Research and Prevention Foundation was started in 1985 when Founder and President Carolyn Aldige first understood the power of prevention to defeat cancer -- and recognized that too few of the country's resources were used to promote cancer prevention research or education. Today, it is one of the nation's leading health organizations and has catapulted cancer prevention to prominence. Since its inception the Foundation has provided more than $74 million in support of cancer prevention and early detection research and education programs. CRPF peer-reviewed grants have been awarded to more than 250 scientists from more than 150 of the leading academic medical centers nationwide. This research has been pivotal in developing a body of knowledge that is the basis for important cancer prevention and early detection strategies. About Step Up Women's Network Founded in 1998, Step Up Women's Network is a nonprofit, membership organization dedicated to strengthening community resources for women and girls. Through hands-on community service, mentoring, and fundraising for women's health and critical issues, Step Up Women's Network educates and activates their membership to ensure that women and girls have the tools they need to create a better future. About Merck & Co., Inc. Merck & Co., Inc. is a global research-driven pharmaceutical company dedicated to putting patients first. Established in 1891, Merck currently discovers, develops, manufactures and markets vaccines and medicines to address unmet medical needs. The Company devotes extensive efforts to increase access to medicines through far-reaching programs that not only donate Merck medicines but help deliver them to the people who need them. Merck also publishes unbiased health information as a not-for-profit service. For more information, visit http://www.merck.com. SOURCE Merck & Co., Inc. Web Site: http://www.maketheconnection.org http://www.merck.com This article is the intellectual property of PRNewswire and its author. It is transcribed simply for fan purposes. No copyright infringement is intended. :: Back up ::       2008 Rohm with a View. Rohm with a View (lis-rohm.net) is an independent publication and is not endorsed by Elisabeth Rohm, her management or any related companies. Opinions expressed here are not necessarily those of Elisabeth Rohm or her management.