Visual Inspection with XXXX (VIA) Screening Program: 7 Years Experience in Early Detection of Cervical @entity5 in Rural South India.

@entity1 @entity5 @entity75 @entity1543 @entity3146
@entity5 continues to be a major public health problem in India in the absence of wide spread organised cervical screening programs. Visual inspection of the cervix with @entity1543 (VIA) is an effective, inexpensive screening test that can be combined with simple treatment procedures for early @entity75 , provided by trained health workers. We report 7 years experience in early detection of cervical @entity5 using the VIA test in a community-based program in rural Andhra Pradesh, India where there are no existing organised cervical screening programs. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Eligible @entity1 aged between 26 and 60 were opportunistically screened by trained health wor kers using the VIA test. @entity1 who tested positive were further evaluated and those with @entity75 were treated either by cryotherapy in the screening clinic or referred to a higher center. RESULTS: A total of 18,869 @entity1 were screened by a single round of VIA testing with a positive rate of 10.75%. Biopsy proven high-grade squamous intraepithelials (HSILs) were 90 (0.48%) and low-grade squamous intraepithelials (LSILs) were 43 (0.28%). The overall prevalence of @entity3146 ( @entity3146 ) 2+ lesion rate is 1.05%. A total of 312 (1.65%) cryotherapies were done and 49 @entity1 underwent hysterectomy. CONCLUSIONS: VIA by trained female health workers is a safe, acceptable, and effective test that can save lives from cervical @entity5 even in remote areas with few resources. These results have important implications for efficient service delivery in cervical screening programs in low-resourced settings.
