Cervical Cancer Screening Drop Due to Pandemic

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is advising women, particularly those of low-income and minority backgrounds, to get screened for cancer. The new study has revealed that breast and Cervical Cancer screenings plunged by more than 80% among these underprivileged groups.

CDC health scientist Amy DeGroff and the lead author said that the results reinforce the need to safely maintain routine health care services during the pandemic, especially when the healthcare environment meets COVID-19 safety guidelines. According to the CDC’s National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program, breast cancer screenings for underserved women decreased by 87%, and by 84% for Cervical Cancer, during April 2020 when compared to the previous five years of averages for April.

The old research supports these findings, such as a similar study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association last year which found that the weekly number of newly diagnosed cancer patients. This dropped by 46.4% on average between March 1 and April 18, 2020, for breast, colorectal, lung, pancreatic, gastric and oesophagal

The new study observed Disparities between racial and ethnic minorities. The study highlights the decline in breast cancer screenings for Native American women, who skipped check-ups last year at a rate of 98%, the steepest drop of all the groups studied. Cervical Cancer screenings of Asian Pacific Islander women also fell steeply, by 92%.Breast and  screenings were 86% and 85% lower for metro areas; 88% and 77% lower in urban areas; and 89% and 82% lower in rural regions, respectively.