Cervical cancer

Thousands of women die of cervical cancer each year in the developing world. In large part, it’s because they don’t have access to tests like the Pap smear. But a new test, one that merely involves conventional vinegar, is changing everything.

Cancer’s viewed by many as a disease of the developed world. Alternately, it’s viewed as too hard or too expensive to prevent or treat. But often, those views simply aren’t true. In Uganda, Dr. Jackson Orem, the country’s first, and for a time only, cancer doctor is showing the way.

Cervical cancer is far more common in the developing world than in the US. One reason: women in the US receive routine screening that catches it in its earliest stages. A low-cost test being rolled out in India could save tens of thousands of lives.

Cancer can be triggered by infectious diseases, especially in impoverished parts of the world. Scientists in the US and Africa are working to unravel how viruses and bacteria cause malignancies.

Dr. Andrea Price, an OBGYN, says some of her patients are confused and dismayed by these new recommendations from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force and the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology. We hear what she recommends.