Dr. Ebenezer Tumban. Undergoing a Pap smear—a simple test to detect cervical cancer—is a regular health habit for most American women. But in many other parts of the world (and some under-served populations in this country), women lack access to cervical cancer screening and treatment. As a result, some 275,000 women—80 percent of them in developing countries—die each year from the disease, which is caused by the sexually-transmitted human papillomavirus (HPV).
