Today, approximately 90% of the world’s cervical cancer deaths occur among women in lower-income countries. The US Preventive Services Task Force determined that Pap screening reduces cervical cancer rates by 60% to 90% within 3 years of implementation, and that these reductions in suffering and death are “consistent and dramatic across populations.” The former Head of Cancer Screening at WHO/IARC determined that “good-quality Pap screening can be implemented even in a rural setting of a lower-income country with reasonable investment.” Pap screening in lower-income countries is a moral imperative because saving as many lives as quickly as possible is a moral imperative. However, current global health guidelines do not promote Pap screening for lower-income countries and provide little guidance on how to successfully implement Pap screening in lower-income settings. The objective of the proposed Brocher workshop will be to develop a monograph that will provide practical guidance for implementing the moral imperative of Pap screening in lower-income settings. The document will fill an important knowledge gap in the medical literature and will supplement existing global health guidelines.
