If you bottom, protect your bottom

Schedule an anal Pap test to screen for anal cancer

That Ass Tho!TM is Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center's campaign to increase anal cancer screening rates in the Lehigh Valley.

Screening is offered in Eastern Pennsylvania at:

Bethlehem

Novus ACS: (610) 867-5365 [only available for primary-care clients at Novus]

LGBTQ-owned and operated primary care clinic located in Bethlehem, PA

Philadelphia

Mazzoni Center: (215) 563-0658

Anal Pap tests are typically covered by insurance through Independence Blue Cross and through Medical Assistance in Pennsylvania. 

BACKGROUND

Gay and bisexual men are 17 times more likely to develop anal cancer than heterosexual men1. However, anal cancer is rarely discussed and even more sparsely addressed within the LGBTQ+ community. The HPV and Anal Cancer Foundation identifies several risk factors for Anal Cancer, including HPV, which is widely understood to be sexually transmitted through skin-to-skin contact, including during anal sex with or without condom usage. Receptive partners during anal sex and anyone with a weakened immune system, including people who are HIV+ are at increased risk for anal cancer2. 

THE NEED

There is a growing awareness of the need for anal Pap tests. over 90% of anal cancer diagnoses are the result of HPV3. Only 8.9% of gay and bisexual men and 11% of Transgender people in the Lehigh Valley have ever had an anal Pap test. Stunningly, just one in four people who are HIV+ in the Lehigh Valley has ever had an anal Pap test.4

THE BARRIERS TO CARE

There are numerous barriers in place. Most clinicians have not received training on anal Pap tests and most don't ask their patients if they need one. Further, anal Pap tests are not covered as a preventative screening by the primary health insurers in the Lehigh Valley. 

THE CAMPAIGN

That Ass Tho!TM is an evidenced-based campaign to increase anal Pap testing among gay and bisexual men in the Lehigh Valley, to increase access to anal Pap tests by encouraging more clinicians to receive training, and to expand insurance coverage for anal Pap tests as a preventative screening.

Photography: Andrew Tomasino

Graphic Design: DL Bram Design

That Ass Tho!TM was produced by Adrian Shanker, Executive Director of Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center, with funding from George Washington University's LGBT Health Policy & Practice Graduate Certificate Program. 

Sources:

1. National LGBT Cancer Network. (2020). Healthy People 2020 Gay Men’s Health Fact Sheet. https://cancer-network.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/HP_2020_gay_men_fact_sheet.pdf
2. "Causes & Risk Factors." The HPV and Anal Cancer Foundation. Accessed July 23, 2016. http://www.analcancerfoundation.org/living-with-anal-cancer/anal-cancer-risk-factors-cause
3. "HPV and Cancer." National Cancer Institute. Accessed June 29th, 2020. . http://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/infectious-agents/hpv-fact-sheet.
4. 2014 Behavioral Health Risks of Pennsylvania Adults. Report. Bureau of Informatics and Information Technology, Pennsylvania Department of Health. 2015.

Copyright © 2017 Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center. All rights reserved. No reproduction, transmission or alteration of campaign graphics are permitted without the written permission of Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center.

PLEASE NOTE: Your use of information contained on this and all other pages of this website is subject to the terms and conditions more fully set forth in our Disclaimer.