Health System Policy Failures Drive Cervical Cancer Disparities in Rural South
The Southern Rural Black Women’s Initiative for Economic and Social Justice works to overcome race, class, cultural, religious, and gender barriers that Black women and young women face in the rural South, specifically the Mississippi Delta and the Black Belt regions of Alabama and Georgia.
From a region in the rural South already beset by extreme poverty and high rates of poor health outcomes—such as cardiovascular disease, hypertension, obesity, hypercholesterolemia, and diabetes1-3—comes a new report detailing cervical cancer prevention failures and care shortcomings prevalent among its Black women. The report underscores that cervical cancer is largely preventable through vaccination and routine screenings, yet systemic barriers continue to deny Black women and young women in rural communities these lifesaving interventions.4