Peruvian oncologists renew cervical screening calls, as local data show 30% cancer rate
This article was originally published in Clinica
Executive Summary
Almost a third of women screened for cervical cancer at a centre serving a Peruvian suburb were found to have the disease. So said the health ministry, citing an assessment of data from the first 1,000 women screened (by Pap smear) this year in the Lima Este area of the capital. Cancer experts involved in the programme are calling on all sexually-active women to come forward for testing "annually or at least once every three years". Women aged 30-49 years in Peru are being asked to undergo screening annually, "as a matter of course". Cervical cancer is the second-leading cause of death among Peruvian women.