Dr. Taylor first realized the magnitude of the problem during a visit to assist abused women in Honduras in 2003.

“I found three cases of cervical cancer in that two-week visit. I’d seen three cases of cervical cancer in my 25-year practice, so I was stunned," she says. "And I started to do some research and discovered that it is so high in these countries, just as if they hadn’t invented the Pap smear, which is what we use to control it here.”

By examining cells from a woman's cervix on a Pap smear, HPV infections can be quickly identified and treated. But for most poor women in developing countries, these exams are often inaccessible and unaffordable. Taylor was determined to find a cost-effective way to bring free medical care to these women.

See and treat

“I remember sitting in my office doing a screening for the abnormal cells and treating this woman and thinking, 'You know, I could put all this equipment in a suitcase and I could take it there and teach doctors and nurses to do this new method that had just been discovered and proven and which allows us to see and treat the condition in one visit.' And that was sort of my 'aha' moment. This wonderful method has now been discovered. It can be used in these countries and taught and doesn’t cost a lot of money. Why not go there and teach it?”

On a visit to Kenya two years ago, Taylor taught local doctors and nurses the so-called ‘see and treat’ technique - screening a woman for HPV, doing a biopsy, and removing cancerous cells - in a single visit to the clinic.

Expanding the program

Nurse practitioner Cheryl Brown is getting final instructions from PINCC staff before leaving for Uganda with Taylor. Like most team members, Brown is a volunteer, who has paid her own way to Latin America for medical site visits. This will be her third trip with PINCC and her first to Africa.

“Many of us, as volunteers, are returnees," Brown says. "It’s so inspirational to be able to see how effective the technique is and how enthusiastic the trainees are about learning the technique and then employing it themselves when we’re not there.”

Since its first visit to Honduras in 2005, PINCC has expanded its program to seven countries. Taylor and her teams have set up 30 medical sites which screen and treat thousands of women annually.