To mark International Women's Day on March 8, Qiagen is providing human papillomavirus products for the testing of underprivileged women at 29 hospitals across China.

The free testing program is part of the larger "3.8 Program", a nationwide prevention campaign organized by the Cancer Foundation of China and partially sponsored by Qiagen. HPV is the primary cause of cervical cancer.

According to the Cancer Foundation of China, 17 of the hospitals involved in the 2008 cervical cancer screening activity reported their result, providing statistics for the testing of 1,617 women. Of those screened, 30 were found to have mild dysplasia due to HPV infection, five had moderate dysplasia, four had severe dysplasia, and five were found to have invasive cervical cancer. All women found to have CIN2/3 and cancer were referred to local medical centers for further diagnosis and surgery if appropriate.

"Our goal at the Cancer Foundation of China is to improve awareness of cervical cancer and HPV screening in China to save lives," said Professor Qiao Youlin, general director of the event and chief of the Department of Cancer Epidemiology at the Cancer Institute, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences. "Like Qiagen, we believe that the best in preventative care, including HPV testing, should be available to all women. Last year we were able to help hundreds of women reduce their risk of developing cervical cancer."

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