Nursing Association Wins Grant for HPV Awareness and Education Campaign

AWHONN to Launch "Be Confident!" Campaign for Adolescents & Parents

NEWS RELEASE: November 16, 2009
CONTACT: Lisa Johnson, 202-296-2002

Washington, DC—The Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN) has been awarded a grant by the Fund to Prevent Cervical Cancer and Merck & Co., Inc. to develop an HPV awareness and education campaign.

The program, called Be Confident!, seeks to educate adolescents and parents about HPV, as well as encourage open discussions with each other and with health care providers.

AWHONN will produce new educational materials to build on their existing work that began with the 2008 publication of HPV Counseling: A Provider Resource. Campaign materials will be produced in both English and Spanish, as Hispanic females have the highest incidence of cervical cancer among all groups of women and the second highest mortality rate from cervical cancer.

The new materials will focus on broad-based education about the risk of cervical cancer and the benefits of prevention, including vaccines, regular screening with Pap tests and HPV tests, not smoking and sexual practices that limit risk. Materials will include brochures, posters, articles and a public service announcement.

"We have an expert team of nurses and women's health professionals who have worked hard to obtain funding for this important program," said AWHONN CEO Karen Peddicord, RNC, PhD. "Our goal with the Be Confident! campaign is to help young women and their parents feel secure in understanding and talking about what HPV is, the associated risk factors and vaccination to prevent HPV and cervical cancer."

AWHONN's brochure and posters will be available to health care providers to help them present a balanced and engaging discussion of HPV, cervical cancer and cervical cancer prevention, including vaccinations, so that the women they serve can make informed decisions about HPV vaccinations and their overall cervical health.

The Be Confident! campaign is set to launch in January, which is Cervical Health Awareness Month. For developments on the campaign and more information on AWHONN, visit www.awhonn.org/hpv.

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About AWHONN
The Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN) is the foremost nursing authority that advances the health care of women and newborns through advocacy, research and the creation of high quality, evidence-based standards of care.

AWHONN's 23,000 members worldwide are clinicians, educators and executives who serve as patient care advocates focusing on the needs of women and infants.

A leader in professional development, AWHONN is the first and only association to be awarded the designation Premier Provider by the American Nurses Credentialing Center for innovation and excellence in Continuing Nursing Education.

In 2009 AWHONN celebrates its 40th anniversary of promoting the health of women and newborns. Founded in 1969 as the Nurses Association of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, the association became a separate nonprofit organization called the Association of Women's Health and Neonatal Nurses in 1993.

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