In the Winter '99 issue, we reported on a cervical cancer project with which AVSC is involved in South Africa. Preventing cervical cancer has received much media attention in the past few months. The January 2000 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) featured an article co-authored by AVSC President Dr. Amy E. Pollack on human papilloma virus (HPV) DNA testing to detect cervical cancer. The findings from this work were reported on the "ABC Nightly News" and in articles in the January 4 New York Times and USA Today.

According to an editorial in the January 2000 issue of JAMA, HPV DNA testing as a screening method "...potentially can enhance the sensitivity of cervical cancer screening and also could be used to reach women who otherwise might not undergo such screening.... [It] could have enormous implications...."