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The ‘Pap’ smear, to identify those at risk of cervical cancer, is one of the most successful cancer screening tests ever invented. Vaccines to protect against the human papillomavirus, which causes cervical cancer, have also been developed.

Yet in Tanzania, cervical cancer is devastating the country. It strikes more women than any other cancer and most women die within five years of diagnosis.

Anu Anand asks why the disease is so rife here and finds out how Tanzanians are tackling it with a cheap and low-tech alternative to the Pap smear.

No lab equipment, microscopes or electricity are needed. Instead, health workers stain the cervix with shop-bought vinegar to reveal any pre-cancerous lesions. With the help of a head torch, the lesions are visible to the naked eye.

The treatment for these pre-cancerous lesions is just as low-tech. A cryotherapy ‘gun’ shoots out carbon dioxide to freeze and destroy the pre-cancerous cells before they turn to cancer.

The treatment is so simple that Anu was even allowed to give it a try – not on a real cervix but on the butchered meat that nurses train on to hone their skills.

These simple, low-cost techniques are now providing countries like Tanzania with the tools they need to catch and treat women with cell changes on their cervix before cancer develops.

Producer: Beth Eastwood

Photo credit: Anu Anand ©