This year, in the USA alone, nearly 4000 women will die from cervical cancer. Almost all of these deaths can be prevented. A Pap smear, which generally costs less than US$50, can detect precancerous or early-stage cancer cells, and is the main reason deaths from cervical cancer have fallen by 75% in the past few decades. These statistics were recently reported by the US National Cancer Institute's Center to Reduce Cancer Health Disparities (CRCHD).
found that women most at risk are poor, uneducated, or members of a minority group. Besides high rates of cervical cancer mortality and low rates of screening for other preventable diseases, these women are unlikely to have access to regular general health care.
To address these disparities, the CRCHD has developed a plan focused on 4 areas—access, information, partnerships, and research. The plan suggests innovations worth highlighting: pairing at-risk women with a patient “navigator”, who would shepherd them through the health care system once an abnormality has been detected; and developing culturally appropriate materials tailored to different educational levels. At a policy level, the report recommends that these women should be made eligible for Medicaid or Medicare, the two federal programmes of insurance for the poor and the elderly, respectively.
These strategies are important and welcome. But high rates of cervical cancer mortality among certain groups are only part of a much larger problem. America's fragmented health-care system and its unconscionably large number of uninsured citizens virtually guarantee that disparities like these will not only persist but are likely to grow. Tackling the issue of access to health care for all Americans could make reports and strategies like this one a thing of the past.