Pic: the OBGYN exam table at the Medical College Hospital, Bharatpur, Nepal. The doctor I interviewed about cervical cancer screening practices there told me that because the women are so uneducated and illiterate (77%), if they have any kind of pre-cancerous lesion he goes ahead and gives them a total hysterectomy. Even though I didn't comment one way or another, he kept saying, "I know you probably think that's unethical. But if we don't just take it out, she'll never follow-up with treatment and she'll get really bad cancer, and we'll have to deal with it later. So if she has had her children we just remove everything." Even though there are easy, cheap treatments for pre-cancerous lesions of every grade. Usually doctors don't call themselves on their own unethical medical practices.
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