MAN she was annoying! And then she died?! Oops!

Remember reality star Jade Goody?

You know the serial reality TV contestant/ star?

The one who threw racist remarks at Indian Actress Shilpa Shetty on Celebrity Big Brother?

The one who went on to launch her perfume etc?

The one who, ironically, ended up on the Indian version of Big Brother?

The one who, upon starting filming of Indian Big Brother, was told she had cervical cancer?

Did you know she died in front of the cameras?

Of course, what other way's there to go huh?

As much as we smirked and at times laughed at her antics on TV, in the tabloids (for those who followed/ couldn't escape from - eg. ppl who worked in media such as myself), we all gasped at the news that Jade Goody, possibly the most annoying Brit Reality character, died within 7 months of being told she had cervical cancer.

Jade decided to 'go' in front of the cameras.

Most people shunned this.

But one of the many things that came outta this - it opened up people's eyes and ears to the threat of Cervical Cancer!

Since "cervical cancer" was all over the headlines in the UK, The Guardian claims that Goody's illness has led to  an anecdotal 20% increase in pap smears in London.

(from Wikipedia)A spokeswoman from Cancer Research commented on Jade's legacy on the day of her funeral:

“

Jade's story has raised awareness of cervical cancer which has led to hundreds of thousands of people contacting Cancer Research UK for information on the disease as the number of hits to our website, CancerHelp.org shows. Her legacy will be to help save lives.

”

In October 2009 it was reported that the number of women aged between 25 and 64 going for smear tests in the United Kingdom had grown by 12% during the previous year, the increase comes after the figures declining year on year since 2002.

Closer to home, meet veteran model/ beauty queen Genevieve Sambhi:

The worst period of her life lasted 6 months - she survived because she did something about it. She fought for her life!

From the time she noticed something abnormal in her annual pap smear test (April 08) to the moment she could finally say "I pulled through" (Sept 08), she had gone through a colon biopsy,  ‘radical hysterectomy’, 13 radiation treatments and 4 chemotherapy sessions! "Although I did not give up, my body did. I then had to go for internal radiation and that was the worst. All that was finally over in September." - Genevieve (the Sun daily)She pulled through with the love of her husband, and always keeping in view her 2 young kids. My point:My Gynae's patience is probably tested beyond all limits cuz since I'd been invited to be one of the digital Ambassadors of Power Over Cervical Cancer here in Malaysia, I'd bombarded her with questions about everything and anythingAbout Jade Goody: No matter what we think of the reality star, her death was tragic AND most importantly AVOIDABLE had she taken into consideration the many warning signs that came up in her pap smears etc (check wiki and other articles, you'll see).

And if anything, this should be a wake up call to ladies, not only in the UK but here, there, everywhere!

She could've been any one of us - young, vibrant, 20 over year olds (fine, I'm over 30 but that's besides the point ;)About Genevieve: I have nothing but respect for this brave woman who went through what I can only imagine is hell to come out the other end, to have another chance to live her life to the fullest. (Genevieve is now ambassador for Power Over Cervical Cancer, POCC, a movement by the National Cancer Society of Malaysia to increase awareness on cervical cancer and help reduce cervical cancer rates in Malaysia)(With fellow D.As Niki, Joyce, and Joe - big up to the boys who are helping to get men to care more about their moms, sisters, friends, girlfriends, wives)Sure, every time we hear 'pap smear', we cringe. (well I do, I dunno about you)

But, if one pap smear a year could save my life - HELL  there's no questions about it!I'm terrible at statistics so I'm gonna borrow from fellow digital ambassador Joyce (owe you one girl)!:Globally,

500,000 cervical cancer cases are reported annually

80%or more of these cases are from developing countries

270,000deaths occur each year from cervical cancer

Every 2 minutes, a woman dies of cervical cancer***

In Asia Pacific,

266,000cervical cancer cases are diagnosed in Asia Pacific

143,000women from this figure die from this disease

41%of women in developing countries receive necessary treatment to surviveEvery 4 minutes, a woman dies of cervical cancer

This one I found on my own and tweeted bout back in Jan:

@SerenaCLPT: DAMN!" 50% of betw 4 and 5 Msian women detected with cervical cancer, will die of it," (acc to National Cancer Society Msia). #pocc

All I'm saying is... it's a pap smear... an annual thing that takes less than 5 minutes.

It could save your life.

Why not right?

Also, National Cancer Society Msia executive-cum-medical director Dr Saunthari Somasundrampointed this out: cervical cancer can be significantly reduced through effective screening and vaccination.(Read up on that perhaps?)

(the very passionate Dr explaining te complexity of the disease to us - you can't see my face but MAN was I overwhelmed! Totally had to research after)

For more info:

www.cancer.org.my

www.pocc.com.my