Married girls needn’t fear cervical cancer, I thought

V PENNY SIMMONS was shocked when the results of a routine smear test in December 2017 revealed abnormal cells and the presence of the HPV virus.

“I did not know a huge amount about cervical cancer,” the 39-year-old motherof-three told the JC.

“I remember being led to believe that cervical cancer (and HPV) only really affects promiscuous women who are sexually active from a young age. It’s not something that a ‘good Jewish girl’ who has been married since she was 22 needed to worry about.”

Having undergone a hysterectomy to remove the cancer, Ms Simmons is working to raise awareness, saying she found apathy and stigma in the Jewish community that she fears is holding women back from getting their regular, potentially life-saving smear tests.

She has been working with the charity Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust, blogging about her experience and appeared on Channel 5 News to talk about her experience as part of Cervical Cancer Prevention Week.

Nearly all cervical cancer cases are caused by a virus called HPV (human papillomavirus), transmitted through skin to skin contact in the genital area.

There are more than 100 different types of HPV and it is thought that at

Campaigning: Penny Simmons

least 80 per cent of people will be infected with some type of it in their lives.

Around 20 types of HPV are associated with the development of cancer and are known as high-risk HPV.

Ms Simmons, who is a member of Finchley United Synagogue, said the lack of awareness around HPV meant people in wider society but particularly those in the Jewish community “didn’t understand just because you are low risk doesn’t mean you are no risk”.

She added: “I was as ignorant, believing that cervical cancer largely affects promiscuous women when it doesn’t.

“I talked to some of my friends about it they all said things like, ‘oh well I haven’t been for a smear since I had children’ and for some of them that was 10 years ago. If I had waited 10 years, I’d be dead.”

Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust, for which Ms Simmons has previously raised money by having her hair cut off, works to dispel misconceptions around the HPV virus and encourages all women to go to their regular smear tests.

Ms Simmons said: “I am now aware that there are a variety of reasons why a woman may be exposed to a higher risk of cervical cancer.

“For the vast majority of women when they catch HPV, their immune system will attack the virus and it will be eliminated from their bodies. In all likelihood, these women will never know they had HPV.

“However, a small percentage of women will be unable to clear their HPV infection naturally and may go on to develop abnormalities in their cervix, which if left untreated may lead to cervical cancer.”

She urged Jewish women to attend their regular smear tests no matter what and not to think that “just because you got married young and have had children you are low risk”.

Ms Simmons, who has three sons, felt angry about her diagnosis but also felt lucky she had already had children when she underwent her hysterectomy. “I know others have not been so lucky,” she said.