Fight Cervical Cancer in Style is a national campaign to educate girls and women about cervical cancer so they can better understand their risk and how to reduce it. The campaign, developed by GlaxoSmithKline, is being run in association with Jo's Cervical Cancer Trust, the UK charity dedicated to cervical cancer, and is supported by the Royal College of Nursing and Wellbeing of Women. The campaign is funded by GlaxoSmithKline.

In early 2010 the Fight Cervical Cancer in Style campaign held an exclusive event at KoKo in Camden.

The event, fronted by the faces of the campaign, the Sugababes, and featuring performances from Pixie Lott, La Roux and Paloma Faith, was attended by over 500 girls and young women with subsequent airings on Channel 4's T4 and T4 Music programmes securing 540,000 viewers.

Feedback shows that 95% of event attendees felt that the Fight Cervical Cancer in Style campaign taught them something new about cervical cancer. The event also inspired girls and women to share what they learnt - with 99% pledging to tell friends and family. Thank you for all your support for the campaign!

To celebrate the one-year anniversary of the Fight Cervical Cancer in Style campaign and during European Cervical Cancer Awareness week in January 2011, Amelle Berrabah from the Sugababes joined us to continue to raise awareness of cervical cancer. Joined by Robert Music from Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust and Dr. Anne Szarewski, Amelle was interviewed by a number of your favourite magazines to discuss survey results that showed:

• Just over half (56%) of girls and women surveyed correctly identified that Human Papillomavirus (HPV) is passed on through sexual contact¹⁸
• Two thirds (69%) of girls and women surveyed correctly identified that cervical cancer can cause no symptoms¹⁸
• 44% of all girls and women surveyed correctly identified that cervical cancer is the most common cancer in women aged 20-29¹⁸
• However, over a third (34%) of girls and women surveyed had not heard of HPV¹⁸
• A third (33%) of all girls and women surveyed did not know how you catch HPV, with one in ten wrongly believing that HPV is hereditary¹⁸
• Almost half (49%) of girls and women surveyed have had or know someone who has had an abnormal smear¹⁸ despite this, 36% have, at some point, not attended their smear test when invited¹⁸

CLICK HERE to view a sample of the interviews.

To mark Mother’s Day this year, the Fight Cervical Cancer in Style campaign urged mums to speak with their daughters about cervical cancer and ways to reduce their risk. Survey results showed over half (58%) of mums have not discussed the cause of cervical cancer with their daughters.¹⁹

Robert Music, Director of Jo's Cervical Cancer Trust commented "The recent survey has uncovered some interesting and confusing facts regarding cervical cancer awareness. It seems there are still some gaps in knowledge amongst both mothers and daughters and alarmingly it appears not enough mothers are discussing this largely preventable disease with their daughters." CLICK HERE to find out more about cervical cancer and ways you can reduce your risk

...to see how support is growing and how celebrities are bringing Fight Cervical Cancer in Style to life using fashion, music and dance

• It is important that you try to live a healthy lifestyle to help to keep your immune system as healthy as possible.
• Don’t take up smoking* (or give it up if you’ve already started) and don’t drink too much alcohol* (for women, up to 2-3 units per day) to help keep your immune system healthy^{7, 8}
• If you have sex, make sure that you use protection*
• Attend screening. Screening is from age 25 in England, 20 in the rest of the UK.⁹ The UK cervical screening programme is thought to be saving up to 4,500 lives per year¹⁰
• Vaccination is available to protect against two types of the HPV virus that cause 70% of cervical cancers¹¹
• Vaccination is currently being offered to girls aged 12 – 18 through the NHS, even if you’ve left school.¹² If you are over 18, speak to your GP, nurse or high street pharmacist about local availability of vaccination.

* The legal age for buying cigarettes and alcohol is 18 years and the age of consent for sexual intercourse is 16 years in the UK

Heidi of the Sugababes, "Having performed at Jade Goody's wedding, cervical cancer is a subject we feel passionately about. We are proud to be supporting the campaign as it is important that women realise how they could catch the virus that causes cervical cancer as well as the simple steps they could take to reduce their risk."

Amy Molyneaux of PPQ, "We are delighted to be involved with such an important campaign as Fight Cervical Cancer in Style. The scarves should be worn with pride by girls and women, knowing that they’re showing their support for the campaign".