Racial gap widening in cervical cancer deaths — to the detriment of black women

A widening racial gap has been found in regard to cervical cancer deaths.

With black women being on the short end of the stick.

Over all, according to an article in The New York Times by Jan Hoffman late last month, a study published in the journal Cancer has determined that “the death rate…is considerably higher than previously estimated.”

Hoffman’s story says researchers have reported that “the rate which black American women are dying from the disease is comparable to that of women in many poor developing nations” in Latin America, Asia and Africa.

The article notes that “what makes the findings especially disturbing…is that when screening guidelines and follow-up monitoring are pursued, cervical cancer is largely preventable.”

Some experts say the expected repeal of the Affordable Care Act, which covers screening, is likely to make matters worse.

The new study, which looked at data from 2000 to 2012, showed the mortality rate for blacks was 10.1 per 100,000, compared to 4.7 for white women.

Anne F. Rositch, Ph.D.

Anne F. Rositch, Ph.D., lead author and an assistant epidemiology prof at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, explained that women who’d had hysterectomies — which almost always remove cervixes — were excluded from the study.

The racial disparity, it was speculated, reflected “unequal access to screening, ability to pursue early-warning test results, and insurance coverage.”

“Rollercoaster: How a man can survive his partner’s breast cancer,” a VitalityPress book I, Woody Weingarten, aimed at caregivers touches on studies that show other racial disparities.