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UN Publishes Manual to Reduce Deaths from Cervical Cancer

The United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) released a manual that outlines low-cost methods for treating cervical cancer including visually inspecting the area at the base of the womb, freezing pre-cancerous lesions, and conducting follow-up treatments with patients. According to UN News Service, many of the quarter of a million deaths of women worldwide from cervical cancer annually could have been avoided if the women received early screening and treatment of pre-cancerous lesions.

Dr. Sankaranarayanan, a WHO cancer screening expert, said that “cervical cancer is a disease of poor women.” The Associated Press reports that a half-million women are diagnosed with cervical cancer each year, with 80 percent of them from poor countries in Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, the Caribbean, and the Indian sub-continent.

Early detection of pre-cancerous lesions can help doctors cure or prevent cervical cancer.

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Sources:

UN News Service 12/20/04; Associated Press 12/16/04

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