January: Cervical Cancer Awareness Month – The Facts

In developing countries, cervical cancer claims more women’s lives than any other form of cancer including breast cancer. This is despite the fact that cervical cancer is one of the easiest cancers to detect and cure. In countries with adequate health resources cervical cancer is a rare disease thanks to the combination of regular Pap tests followed by early treatment when necessary. However, in countries with weak or non-existent health care infrastructure, Pap technology is out of reach. Women living in rural coffee producing regions face perhaps the greatest obstacles to this simple prevention as is documented by their current rate of mortality.

The world now has an extraordinary opportunity to address this leading cause of death for women in their prime. Thanks in large part to results from intensive research over the past two decades funded by the Gates Foundation and others, there are now viable prevention strategies that can work even in the lowest-resource communities. The global community is mobilizing, and Grounds for Health is at the forefront.

Cervical Cancer Facts

• One woman dies every two minutes from cervical cancer
• Cervical cancer kills over 270,000 women yearly
• 80% of deaths occur in emerging world
• In the emerging world, cervical cancer kills more women than any other form of cancer
• Cervical cancer kills women in their primes, which has a devastating impact on their families and communities

• Cervical cancer is 100% preventable when detected and treated early
• Cervical cancer is the only cancer known to be caused by a common virus
• The Single Visit Approach is a proven method to screen and provide preventive treatment in rural, low-resource settings
• If every woman was seen using the Single Visit Approach just once in her lifetime, we could reduce the worldwide rate of cervical cancer by 30%

The Single Visit Approach

Grounds for Health: From the Community’s Perspective