Cervical cancer screening programs in the Pacific offer hope of stopping 'silent killer'
ABCCervical cancer is a silent killer in the Pacific — due to a lack of health infrastructure, it is estimated that women in the region can die from the disease at up to 13 times the rate of women in Australia. Women can get test results and treatment on the same day — a vast improvement, particularly in the Solomon Islands, where old pap smear tests had to be sent to Australia to be analysed. In Papua New Guinea, Mt Hagen nurse Gloria Munnull said she had women coming from all over the region to get tested, and that the new program was an "answer to prayer". Cervical cancer screening training sessions were also held in the Solomon Islands. "Before, we used to have a lot of women feel kind of reluctant to come to the cervical screening because they think that they will expose their body to us," she said.
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Fight against cervical cancer receives major boost from record donation, as Pacific Island nations ramp up screening
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