American Cancer Society Joins 'Million Moms Challenge' to Tackle Second Leading Cancer Killer Among Women in Developing Countries

(3BL Media / theCSRfeed) ATLANTA, GA - December 19, 2011 - Although largely preventable through early detection, cervical cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death among women in developing countries, where more than 85 percent of the estimated 529,800 cervical cancer cases worldwide in 2008 occurred. While cervical cancer screening rates have decreased by as much as 65 percent over the past four decades due to screening, incidence rates remain high in developing countries in Central and South America, the Caribbean, sub-Saharan Africa, and Southern Asia where girls and women do not have access to prevention services such as education, HPV vaccination and life-saving pre-cancer screening and early treatment.

The American Cancer Society has joined ABC News and the United Nations Foundation in the recently launched Million Moms Challenge (www.millionmomschallenge.com ), an initiative aimed at connecting millions of American women with millions of moms in developing countrie