Dog Cheap Test For Cervical Cancer, a Pea Nut Indeed !

New Delhi, October 14:  This test for screening cervical cancer saves precious time and money both. But due to being not able to fetch money as other tests do, this old method was sort of discarded. Delhi hospital Sir Ganga Ram has revived this low lying but as effective as costly ‘pap smear’ test. The test named VIA (visual inspection with Acetic acid) costs only Rs 2!

Instead of coughing up Rs. 1000 for Pap smear, a woman gets the test done in less than a minute, costing just tow rupees.  SGR hospital has done a study that proves that VIA can be used for mass screening of cervical cancer because the result is as accurate and effective as Pap smear.

VIA study was conducted by Obstetrics and Gynaecology department of Sir Ganga Ram Hospital. Journal of Current Medicine Research & Practice has carried the study and its result that was done on 500 women, in its August edition. Dr Geeta Mediratta, author of the study and senior gynae consultant at Sir Ganga Ram, said, while talking to meditoall, “VIA is of course as accurate a test as Pap smear but for 100 accuracy biopsy is must. VIA can come handy as an alternate screening in a vast country like India where low-resource settings inhibit the very essential test to prevent cervical cancer or catch it early. Rural areas will benefit greatly from this’.

Cervical cancer accounts for 12% of all cancers worldwide. Pap smear is the most popular screening tool. However, it requires a laboratory, a trained cytologist and a repeat visit for report and further evaluation. To overcome these shortcomings, a VIA on the cervix was reported as an alternative method. Application of 3-5% acetic acid causes dehydration of cells and surface coagulation of proteins in active cells. This gives a white appearance to what’s called aceto-white areas which is abnormal and need further evaluation. Dr Harsha Khullar, co-author of the study said, ‘We found sensitivity of VIA and pap smear comparable. For VIA, sensitivity was 93.1%, and for Pap smear it was 86.2%.’