A doctor holds a model of female reproductive organs while talking to a patient.
Not enough South Asian women in Peel get pap tests — and it could be a matter of 'life and death' | CBC News LoadedNot enough South Asian women in Peel get pap tests — and it could be a matter of 'life and death'
That's well behind the provincial target of at least 80 per cent of eligible women getting a pap smear every three years. Even though cervical cancer is treatable, the situation has become "a matter of life and death," said Janine Herrmann-McLeod, co-chair of Brampton Caledon Health Coalition. Brampton's largest immigrant population is from India, according to the 2021 census. The average national testing rate among women in India is as low as two per cent and cervical cancer is the second leading cause of death, according to a 2023 National Library of Medicine report.Brampton nurse Donna Smith says she's increasingly seeing more South Asian women at high risk of cervical cancer.
The testing rate gap between the least racially diverse neighbourhoods and the most racially diverse neighbourhoods doubled from 2009 to 2021, according to the provincial cancer report. Women can get a pap test from their family doctor or at a clinic — but Ontario has an acute shortage of family doctors, and as of January, 2.3 million people didn't have one, according to the Ontario Medical Association. The association expects the number of people without to double in the next two years.
Peel Public Health did not respond to CBC Toronto's questions about these concerns, but it did say in an email that its role "is more along the lines of monitoring/data collection."South Asian countries, like Pakistan, do not have vaccine programs to protect people from human papillomavirus , a sexually transmitted disease, according to the National Library of Medicine, and while India recently introduced a paid HPV vaccine, it does not have a national vaccination program.
"That's not really affordable to the majority of the population," said Smith, pointing out that to eradicate cervical cancer countries will need to meet the World Health Organization's goal of vaccinating 90 per cent of girls worldwide by the time they turn 15.
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