Excess Cervical Cancer Mortality: A Marker for Low Access to Health Care in Poor Communities

Without question, cervical cancer is a success story in the history of cancer control. Since screening programs using the Papanicolaou test (Pap test) were implemented widely more than 50 years ago, cervical cancer deaths have declined 75 percent nationwide. Yet cervical cancer still takes the lives of approximately 4,000 women in the United States each year. This is particularly disturbing since virtually all cervical cancers should be avoidable with proper screening, and because effective treatment is available for precancerous lesions and for invasive cancers that are detected before they have spread.

This book contains information and specific actions to eliminate cervical cancer mortality disparities suffered by women in identified geographic regions of the nation and to improve health care for all underserved women. Each major objective is listed with specific recommendations for reaching the goal.