New cervical cancer screening test introduced in El Salvador

"A new way to screen poor women for cervical cancer was introduced this month in El Salvador, using a test that was originally developed in China," the New York Times reports. "The new test, called careHPV and made by Qiagen, a Dutch company, is a swab test for the DNA of the papillomaviruses that cause cancer," the newspaper writes, noting a study published in the Lancet Oncology in 2008 found the test "was more than twice as sensitive" than the alternate method of "shining a light on the cervix and painting it with vinegar, which reveals precancerous lesions that can then be burned off with liquid nitrogen or carbon dioxide." According to the New York Times, "The test worked even when women inserted the swabs themselves, which can be done at home and so is easier and faster than having them go to a clinic for visual inspections" (McNeil, 9/24).