Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer in Indian women accounting for about 18% of all cancers occurring in this demographic group. Every year, over 1,20,000 new cases of this disease are diagnosed out of whom more than 77,000 cases succumb to death owing to diagnosis during advanced stages of the cancer, bringing the mortality rate to approximately 63%, said a doctor at Amrita Hospital, Faridabad.
A major cause of the high burden of cervical cancer in India is the lack of awareness and lack of cervical screening. Morbidity and mortality owing to late detection and lack of access to required treatments constitute the driving evils of cervical cancers. On the contrary, early screening of the disease can help find changes in the cervix before cancer develops. It can also detect cervical cancer before the malignant cells spread and is amenable to curative treatment.
