Low-income countries are disproportionately impacted by preventable cancers such as cervical cancer. Cervical cancer has even been identified as the top cause of cancer morbidities in Peru. Screening for cervical cancer can be done via pap smears. In the beautiful city of Lima, Peru, inequality in healthcare access is an everyday problem for women. Within the city of Lima, there are districts that fall under high, middle, and low-income classifications that pose the question of differential social structure and attitudes in each area. Following my field experience living in Lima, Peru working for an international non-profit, I wanted to research more about the status of reproductive healthcare in Lima, Peru. I found in existing literature that there are societal, financial, and structural factors that have greatly limited pap smear coverage among Peruvian women. These factors were consistent with what I observed when I was working in Lima. Societal factors include present day attitudes and public perceptions. Financial factors impact patients, professionals, and communities in different ways. Structural factors reflect the importance of quality of care among patients. There is a call for help throughout South America, specifically Peru, to develop an effective program to increase pap smear coverage and to promise high quality follow-up treatment. Through this review of identifying and discussing barriers to pap smear access and preventative care, global health professionals can potentially develop successful intervention strategies on a multi-dimensional level. This immersion experience has provided me with the opportunity to expose myself more to the global health field which has given me the passion to continue to study global health after I graduate from Miami University this May.<\/p>\n
Author:<\/strong> Amanda Burgess<\/p>\n Faculty Advisors:<\/strong> Joseph Carlin, Department of Microbiology, and Paul Flaspohler, Department of Global Health and Psychology<\/p>\n