A simple $50 Pap smear test has reduced the U.S.cervical cancer death rate by 75 percent in recent years. The test detects precancerous cells in time to prevent full blown cancer from forming, or if the cancer is already present it can usually be cured. The above statements are true for a certain segment of the population. But, sadly, they do not apply to many of the poor and minority populations of our country. This largely preventable disease will kill over 4,000 women this year alone, a majority of them live in poverty and will be black women in the South, Hispanics living along the Texas-Mexico border, older white women in Appalachia and the rural Northeast and Vietnamese immigrants.

For a test that is simple to administer and relatively inexpensive, this information is scandalous. Currently a $25 million dollar cervical cancer awareness program is being implemented to help reach minorities and women living in poverty. The program seeks to recruit volunteers in communities that understand the needs of local women or who speak their language. The hope is that by having a person they can trust, these women will be more willing to seek medical attention.