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The toll of cervical cancer

Approximately 275,000 women die every year from cervical cancer with 88% occurring in developing countries, but HPV vaccines offer protection against 70% of all cervical cancer cases

  • Living in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, where cervical cancer carries a heavy stigma, Martha, 89, had not yet told friends or family about her cancer. This photograph was taken in February 2011 after her cobalt radiation therapy had begun. More than 6200 women in Tanzania are diagnosed every year with cervical cancer, the east African country’s most common cancer.
  • A patient finds some privacy in the stairwell of the Ho Chi Minh City Oncology Hospital in Vietnam, December 2010.
  • Patients sit on their beds in the women’s cervical cancer ward of the Ho Chi Minh City hospital in Vietnam. Linked to the cancer burden, patients must frequently share beds.
  • Cervical cancer patients rest on the floor of the women’s cervical cancer ward at the Ho Chi Minh City Oncology Hospital in Vietnam, December 2010.
  • Cervical cancer patient waits for next round of treatment at the Ho Chi Minh City Oncology Hospital in Vietnam, December 2010.
  • Patients sit or lie on their beds at the Ho Chi Minh City Oncology Hospital in Vietnam, December 2010.
  • The control center for the cobalt radiation treatment room at the Ho Chi Minh City Oncology Hospital in Vietnam. December 2011.
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Last updated: 27 Sep 2019