NPR blog examines simple cervical cancer screening technique being adopted by African countries

Sep 20 2012

NPR's "Shots" blog examines efforts to reduce cervical cancer deaths in Botswana, noting that "in Africa and other impoverished regions, few women get pap smears because the countries lack the laboratories and other resources necessary to offer them." Ricky Lu, an obstetrician-gynecologist with Jhpiego, which is associated with Johns Hopkins University, "is promoting a cervical cancer screening technique in which a nurse or a midwife simply swabs a woman's cervix with vinegar (or diluted acetic acid) and then looks with the naked eye, or a magnifying glass, for pre-cancerous lesions," according to the blog. "The screening technique requires only vaginal spoons, vinegar and a bit of training" and "can be performed in the simplest health clinics without a need for laboratory tests or even electricity," the blog writes, noting, "At least six countries in Africa have now adopted the technique as part of their public health care systems, and it's also caught on in Thailand and parts of Asia" (Beaubien, 9/18).