In observance of Cervical Cancer Awareness month, Planned Parenthood of Greater Iowa (PPGI) is offering free Pap tests on Monday to women who have not had the test performed in the past three years.

Todd Buchacker, center manager of Ames Planned Parenthood, said the exam is a relatively swift and simple process.

“The actual exam doesn’t take long at all, probably about five to ten minutes,” Buchacker said. “The whole visit time here is maybe an hour.”

Buchacker said the actual Pap test is free of charge and will be deducted from the total cost of the visit. The total cost of the billing depends upon the patient’s financial ability.

“We have our patients fill out a financial form, and based on their financial ability, we do a sliding scale discount, so the total cost of the day would depend on that,” he said.

PPGI is offering the free Pap tests in cooperation with PathNet Esoteric Laboratory Institute as part of an initiative of the non-profit National Cervical Cancer Coalition.

The American Cancer Society recommends all women should begin Pap testing annually by the age of 18, or as soon as sexual activity commences.

A screening procedure for diagnosis of pre-invasive and early invasive cancer, the Pap test is nearly one hundred percent effective in identifying precancerous conditions of the cervix.

“If the cancer is detected early on, it’s almost 100 percent treatable,” Buchacker said.

In a Pap test, commonly called a “Pap smear”, cells are removed from the cervix for laboratory examination.

“If there are any abnormal cells it may be indicative of cancer or HPV [Human Papillomavirus].”

“It can show other inflammation, which may be from a sexually transmitted disease as well. There’s all sorts of things the test can show, but mostly what they’re looking for is cervical cancer cells,” Buchacker said.

The sexually transmitted virus known as HPV has been proven to be the causative agent for developing cancer of the cervix.

The virus is actually a small chip of DNA. Although different from the human cell’s DNA, it is a close enough copy to initiate commands to the cell it infects. In the last 20 years, there has been a sevenfold increase in the HPV epidemic, afflicting millions of Americans.

It is known to be a “silent” infection, usually with no symptoms present. As a result, only about 20 percent of HPV infections are detected.

Since the test became common in the 1950s, the death rate from cervical cancer has declined by nearly 70 percent.