8 - The Deadly Link between Inequality and Cervical Cancer

Summary

Cervical cancer is a disease of inequity. Ethnic minorities – regardless of where they live – are screened less often, diagnosed later, and die more often from this preventable cancer. While most cervical cancer deaths happen in lower-income countries, persons with cervixes are increasingly dying in marginalized communities within higher-income countries. In these parts of the world, preventing and treating cervical cancer is considered a privilege rather than a right – a lofty ideal rather than a budget staple. The COVID-19 pandemic only exacerbated disparities in cervical cancer prevention and care, as fighting this illness took priority over issues like cervical screening and HPV vaccination. The pandemic laid bare the fragile state of women’s reproductive health care: how easily it could be disrupted by global public health emergencies. And yet, until global citizens call attention to worldwide political and financial disparities, it’s clear that geography, skin color, and the most emergent global health priority will continue to foster a wholly unacceptable rate of death by cervical cancer.