-- Dr. Melissa Miskell, is the owner and founder of Focus Total Health. Focus Total Health is a gynecology and hormone replacement medical practice in New Braunfels and San Antonio, Texas. While her normal day job keeps her busy with women needing general gynecology services here in the United States, she began to look at the healthcare needs of women around the world.
What she discovered was shocking. Cervical cancer screening doesn’t exist in most developing nations. One of the simplest healthcare services that women here in the U.S. get (a pap smear), is not even possible in these nations. This causes a high mortality rate for the women, who are the primary bread winners and caretakers of the family unit. In fact, cervical cancer killed 265,000 women last year.
Dr. Miskell decided that she needed to make a difference. So over 9 years ago, she began to work with an organization called PINCC (Prevention International No Cervical Cancer). This group organizes trips into developing nations to teach the local medical personnel how to identify and treat signs of cervical cancer. To be precise, PINCC leads teams of five to fifteen volunteers to hospital and clinic sites in Africa, Latin America and Asia. Teams are composed of physicians, mid-level practitioners, educators, and volunteers. PINCC focuses on medical education in tandem with treatment.
Today, Dr. Miskell is the head of PINCC. She has trained approximately 700 medical personnel. She certified 40 clinics in Africa, Latin America and Asia to identify and treat cervical cancer. PINCC sites continue to provide services to thousands of women every year.
PINCC creates sustainable programs that continue to be ongoing throughout the world. Cervical cancer kills 265,000 women every year and is expected to increase by 67% to 450,000 in the next 12 years. Cervical cancer is a global issue that affects world economy. Why? Women are the primary source of income and stability in developing countries. PINCC has ongoing training sites in Kenya, Tanzania and Cambodia. Proposed sites include Ghana, Rwanda, India and Guatemala.
Dr. Miskell encourages every woman to make sure that she gets her annual gynecology exam. “Cervical cancer screening is such a simple process that saves lives,” she says.
To find out more, please visit is https://focustotalhealth.com/
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