How new at-home HPV test kits could help Alabama fight cervical cancer

 1656506884 
1747630800

The Food and Drug Administration has approved the country’s first at-home HPV screening kit. That disease causes nearly all cervical cancers. The Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH) reports Alabama is consistently among the top five states for rates of cervical cancer. While some hope the new kits might turn things around, others have questions.

The new kits, made by Teal Health, come with a swab for collecting vaginal samples, which are then mailed to a lab for screening. Right now, the self-testing kits are only available for use on site at a clinic. And while currently the at-home kits are only being used in California, Alabama officials anticipate that will change.

“HPV self-testing is something that we have been hoping for for a while,” Nancy Wright said. 

Wright is the director of ADPH’s Cancer Prevention and Control Division and leader of the state’s Operation Wipeout Cervical Cancer. She noted the kits were approved as potential alternatives to pap smears, which are widely considered uncomfortable and even painful.

“Often embarrassment and discomfort are barriers,” Wright said. “And then, even more importantly, in some of our rural areas, it’s very difficult to get access to that cervical cancer screening and access to care.”

Wright said she hopes the kits will help Alabama not only bring down high cervical cancer rates, but also reach its goal to eliminate cervical cancer entirely by 2034, despite its healthcare deserts. 

“We can stop it to where our children and our grandchildren won’t even know what it is,” Wright said. “And we can do this within my lifetime.” 

Others see the kits bringing further challenges.

“The thing I’m concerned about is the backstream and downstream sort of management of an abnormal test,” Dr. Warner Huh, chair of UAB’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, said. 

He said the at-home kits should be simple to use and studies have shown the results will be accurate. But he questions what happens if a test returns abnormal results. 

“Where do they go?” Huh said. “Who sees them? Who’s gonna cover those costs potentially?”

Huh said he does not know for sure if the state can handle evaluating and treating those patients. 

“I don’t want people to fall through the cracks knowing that they had an abnormal test and they A, couldn’t see somebody, or B, that there wasn’t someone potentially following up on those results,” Huh said. 

He added that treatment is just as important to reducing cervical cancer rates as screening. 

 

Trump calls for Gaza deal, slams Netanyahu trial

U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday pleaded for progress in ceasefire talks in the war in Gaza, calling for a deal, and doubled down on his criticism of the legal proceedings against Netanyahu.

Say ‘maybe’ to the dress? Tariffs are crashing the wedding planning party

How much extra would you pay to see your dream come true? It's always a big question for wedding-planning couples. Now, there's a new twist courtesy of U.S. trade policy.

The Trump administration is building a national citizenship data system

The Department of Homeland Security, with help from DOGE, has rolled out a tool that purports to be able to check the citizenship status of almost all Americans.

Around 100,000 march in Budapest Pride event in defiance of Hungary’s ban

Marchers gambled with potential police intervention and fines to participate in the annual Budapest Pride, which was outlawed by a law passed by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's right-wing governing party.

J.M. Smucker plans to remove artificial colors from its jams and other products

Smucker joins a growing number of big food companies that have announced plans to eliminate artificial dyes.

Man kicked and injured a CBP beagle during airport baggage search

An Egyptian traveler who kicked the 25-pound dog was ordered to pay its vet fees and turn himself in for removal from the country.

More Front Page Coverage