Angel Aquino provides a healthy future for her daughters

MANILA, Philippines – Like every mother, celebrity model and host Angel Aquino wants the best for her children. “Everyone would like to protect themselves from any illness that they may encounter  especially those that can affect their loved ones,” she shares.

Seeing how her own mom struggled to provide for their needs and sheltered them from life’s hardships, Angel wanted to do the same for her daughters, especially now that there’s a threat to every woman’s health — cervical cancer.

“Knowing the facts about this kind of disease and how it affects women and young girls motivated me to take action against cervical cancer. Every woman should be aware about the statistics: 12 women die of cervical cancer every day; it causes the most number of deaths of Filipinas next to breast cancer,” says Angel.

Angel is working hand in hand with GlaxoSmithKline in its cervical cancer awareness campaign with her daughters Iana and Thea. Mother and daughters took their shots for protection as a stand against this deadly disease. And just like them, Filipinas now have a chance to live without worries as an affordable vaccine is now available for every woman to be protected against human papillomavirus (HPV), the virus that causes cervical cancer.

This angelic mom asserts, “Every mother should protect themselves first, so they can be with their children longer and be healthy for the sake of their children. And moms will do every means possible to provide their daughters a happy life, and for me, this vaccine is one of them.”

Studies show that after five years, more than half of those with cervical cancer won’t survive. This can be avoided because cervical cancer is a preventable disease. The cervical cancer vaccine is recommended for women and young children, and designed to help strengthen the immune response. Living a healthy lifestyle and having regular checkups with your ob-gyne is part of protecting yourself. Dr. Sally Gatchalian, GSK’s medical director, reminds everyone that a Pap smear is always a good practice so the disease may be addressed early on.

Knowledge, proper prevention and taking the right action are the keys that Angel wants to instill in her daughters. “I’m happy that this vaccine came along so I was able to protect my daughters as early as now. I feel better and secure that they will be able to enjoy their lives and have a healthy future.”

To know more about HPV, cervical cancer and the prevention you can have against it, please visit your physicians.