A simple screening program for cervical cancer using vinegar and visual exams helped reduce deaths caused by the cancer by 31 percent in a group of 150,000 poor women in India, researchers reported.
If implemented broadly, the screening program could lead to the prevention of 22,000 deaths from cervical cancer in India, and 72,000 deaths in the developing world each year, the team reported.
“We had a 31 percent reduction in cervical cancer death. That was very significant,” said Surendra Shastri of Tata Memorial Hospital in Mumbai, India, who led the study.
Photo: AFP
照片:法新社
The study involved women selected from 20 slums in the city of Mumbai. For the screening program, the team trained young women with at least a 10th grade education on how to apply the vinegar solution and evaluate the results.
As a result of these efforts, “The screening participation rates were 89 percent, huge for a country like India,” Shastri said.
The study involved women aged 35 to 64 with no previous history of cancer. They were randomly assigned to either an education program to teach women how to recognize symptoms of cervical cancer or a screening program in which a vinegar solution is applied to the cervix, which can make pre-cancerous tissues turn white and visible to the naked eye after only a minute.
(Reuters)
一種使用醋酸與目測檢視的簡易子宮頸癌篩檢計畫,在印度十五萬名貧窮婦女的群體中,有效降低該癌症百分之三十一死亡率,研究人員報告指出。
如果廣泛實施,這項篩檢計畫每年在印度可預防兩萬兩千件子宮頸癌死亡病例,在開發中國家則達七萬兩千件死亡病例,研究團隊報告說。
「我們降低百分之三十一的子宮頸癌死亡病例,成效非常顯著,」領導該研究的孟買塔塔紀念醫院沙斯特里博士說。
這項研究涉及從孟買二十個貧民窟挑選的婦女。為了這項篩檢計畫,該團隊訓練教育程度至少十年級的年輕婦女如何塗抹醋酸溶液並評估結果。
由於這些努力,「篩檢參與率達百分之八十九,像印度這樣的國家,這是很高的比率,」沙斯特里說。
這項研究涉及三十五至六十四歲、沒有癌症病史的婦女。她們被隨機分派到教導婦女如何辨識子宮頸癌症狀的教育課程或篩檢計畫,將醋酸溶液塗抹在子宮頸,短短一分鐘後,癌前病變組織變白,而肉眼清楚可見。
(路透社/翻譯:魏國金)
The strongest earthquake to hit Taiwan in 25 years killed at least 16 people and damaged dozens of buildings, but the destruction was largely contained thanks to decades of preparedness work. Taiwan sits on the “Ring of Fire,” an arc of intense seismic activity along the Pacific Rim, and — much like neighboring Japan — has a long history of catastrophic quakes. How does April 3 compare with other recent quakes? The April 3 earthquake, which measured 7.4 on the moment magnitude scale, was felt across Taiwan. It was the most severe since a 7.6 magnitude quake in 1999 killed
A: Artificial intelligence technology has been causing controversy lately: a student was caught cheating with AI to win the grand prize in an art contest. B: That’s so absurd. Does this mean that AI paints better than humans? A: Maybe. Luckily, the student was later disqualified. B: And more absurdly, it’s becoming more and more popular to use AI technology to “resurrect” people. A: Yeah, some netizens even posted videos featuring the late singer CoCo Lee, who was “resurrected” by them with AI software. A: 人工智慧的爭議不斷,有學生違規使用AI參加美術展,甚至贏得首獎。 B: 真誇張,這是不是代表AI比人類還強大? A: 或許吧,幸好得獎資格被取消。 B: 還有更誇張的︰讓死者重現的「AI復活」技術越來越熱門。 A: 對啊,還有網友製作已故歌后李玟「復活」的影片呢! (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)
Around the time of the Dragon Boat Festival in June, the streets of Taiwan are filled with the delightful aroma of zongzi, a traditional snack made of sticky rice wrapped in leaves. The leaves are folded into a cone and then filled with sticky rice and other ingredients such as braised pork belly, peanuts and salted duck egg yolks. The filled leaves are then tightly tied with kitchen twine and ready for cooking. 每到六月端午時節,街頭巷尾就會飄出粽子的香氣。粽子是將糯米包進粽葉的傳統美食,先將粽葉折成圓錐狀塞入糯米,以及紅燒肉、花生、鹹鴨蛋黃等配料,用棉線綁緊後即可烹煮。 Dragon Boat Festival (n. phr.) 端午節 aroma
It’s another school day with the same ritual. You wake up to your smartphone’s alarm, scroll through messages during your commute, and listen to your favorite playlist with your wireless earbuds between classes. These devices, integrated smoothly into your daily routine, certainly make life more convenient. However, where do these devices end up after you replace them? In fact, the issue of electronic waste is a growing global concern. According to the United Nations, in 2019 alone, we generated an astonishing 53.6 million tons of e-waste—an average of 7.3kg per person. Projections hint at the figure soaring to 110