The piece of legislation I believe has most significantly affected women’s healthcare in the past century is the regulation for women to take Pap smear regularly to prevent cervical cancer development. Nowadays, every woman is entitled to three free pap smears in her life, the measure that allows to significantly reduce cervical cancer. A Pap test, or Pap smear, is a procedure in which cell samples are taken from the walls of the cervix and examined under a microscope (Sachan et al., 2018). The analysis is necessary to determine cellular abnormalities that may be a sign of cervical cancer and other diseases, such as infection and inflammation (Sachan et al., 2018). The Pap test is able to detect precancerous conditions and small tumors that can cause cervical cancer.
The Pap smear is named after the Greek scientist Georgios Nikolaou Papanikolaou, who developed this method. Papanikolaou was one of the first to attract attention to the diagnosis of diseases using cell samples. A number of studies have shown that the mortality rate due to cervical cancer decreased significantly, when screening programs using Pap smears appeared (Sachan et al., 2018).
The main benefit of the Pap test is that it is an effective method of diagnosing cervical cancer and has saved the lives of many women. Cervical cancer appears when healthy cells of the cervix turn into abnormal and begin to grow uncontrollably. Cancer cells penetrate deep into the tissues, and, as they develop, the cancer can spread to other organs. According to a study by Sachan et al. (2018), cases of death from cervical cancer have significantly decreased in the United States since the 1950s by more than 70%. This decline is mainly due to the introduction of Pap tests as cervical cancer was once the leading cause of death among women.
Reference
Sachan, P. L., Singh, M., Patel, M. L., & Sachan, R. (2018). A study on cervical cancer screening using pap smear test and clinical correlation. Asia-Pacific journal of oncology nursing, 5(3), 337-341. Web.