“Spill your lipstick against the Uterus cancer đ “. Here is an example of one of the many tweets from Internet users participating in the #smearforsmear challenge (” a trace of lipstick for a smear “).
The idea is as simple as the famous #icebucketchallenge, the ice-water bucket challenge, whose virality on social networks has raised funds for the fight against Charcot’s disease. This time the bucket takes the shape of a lipstick and the difficulty level associated with the ice water is reduced to nil. The gesture is childish: all you have to do is drool on purpose and post the image of your mouth dripping with lipstick on social networks, accompanied by the hashtag #smearforsmear. We can also name three other people to encourage them to reproduce the gesture and give the word to the tweetosphere and other users of social networks (instagram, facebook).
Behind these deceptively girly selfies, the aim is to encourage screening for cervical cancer but also to raise funds to support research. The initiative was launched by the English association Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust, which wanted to carry out an original campaign to mark the European Week for the prevention and screening of cervical cancer (January 24-30, 2015).
It’s done, the challenge is taken up by thousands of anonymous people but also by people like Georgia May Jagger (Mike Jagger’s daughter) who encouraged her model friend Carla Delevingne to challenge her.
Lack of screening
In France, cervical cancer affects 3,000 women every year and kills 1,000, recalls the National Cancer Institute. Early detection thanks to a cervico-uterine smearis recommended every three years between 25 and 65 years. It can detect any precancerous lesions and treat them before they turn into cancer.
Problem, four out of ten women do not have a smear regularly. Hopefully this new challenge will help change the game …
>> To read also: Cancer of the cervix: a urine test to detect it
