Papanicolaou screening in developing countries: an idea whose time has come.

Cervical cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death among women in developing countries. Although progress is optional in all settings, Papanicolaou screening is feasible anywhere that cervical screening is appropriate and should be implemented without further delay in high-risk communities with access to curative treatment services. Successful prophylactic cervical cancer vaccines, prospects for which remain uncertain, will not eliminate requirements for cervical screening. The feasibility of human papillomavirus test analysis has not been demonstrated in low-resource developing country settings. Because past failures of cervical screening in developing countries are attributable to failures in programmatic quality rather than to technological limitations of the screening test, a shift in paradigmatic focus from technology toward quality is mandatory. Because visual screening techniques coupled with immediate ablative treatment are rendered obsolete by an embedded quality-control paradox, a moratorium should be placed on all such programs. Considerable opportunity costs, borne by the underserved, are associated with prioritizing research of novel interventions in developing countries when satisfactory interventions already exist.