Haiti has the highest incidences of cervical cancer in the world.
Cervical cancer takes the lives of more women in Haiti than all other cancers combined, yet it is so preventable! The test is simple and treatment takes only minutes.
So why isn’t every clinic offering cervical cancer testing? Hospitals and clinics simply do not have access to the needed medical equipment or supplies.
In 2013, Matter partnered with Healing Haiti to outfit their clinic at Grace Village with life-saving medical equipment and supplies. This past month, a team of doctors and nurses from Yale University headed to Grace Village’s clinic to perform cervical cancer testing.
Grace Village is 1 of 3 clinics for a country of 10 million people equipped to offering this life-saving preventative care.
During the doctors first-day seeing patients, a 26-year-old mother of 4 waited to receive testing. Her results came back showing her to have stage 4 cervical cancer. If she could have received testing just 2 years prior, a simple treatment could have changed her future. This young mother is now facing the reality that she will not see her children grow.
Twenty-four percent of the women tested at Grace Village were positive for precancerous cells. Doctors were able to treat patients on the spot, keeping them from developing cervical cancer.
