Yet, screening for cervical cancer amongst the general population has remained abysmally low, because of low awareness about the disease, fear or embarrassment about the screening test, personal attitudes and lifestyle choices and low accessibility to the screening test. However, cervical cancer is one of the few cancers that is 100 per cent preventable and curable, if treated in the early stages. Pap Smear is still the principle mode for cervical screening, alongside two other tests which are equally acceptable in low-resource settings, VIA (Visual inspection using acetic acid) and VILI (Visual inspection using Lugol’s Iodine). Cervical cancer is 100 per cent preventable and curable if treated earlyCure is not a word that doctors normally use when it comes to cancer. Yet, cervical cancer continues to kill hundreds of women in India in their reproductive age.

Source: The Hindu June 13, 2016 00:07 UTC