IPB holds pap smear test

BOGOR: The deaths of two uterine cancer patients, whose surviving husbands work at the Bogor Institute of Agriculture (IPB), has moved the institute to organize Papanicolaou, or Pap, smears for women at the university.

About 200 women are expected to take part in the tests to be held on Monday and Tuesday.

"We decided to hold the tests after we found out that the wives of two lecturers died because of uterine cancer," the head of the institute's polyclinic and a lecturer of the School of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Sri Budiarti, said.

All women employees of IPB and the wives of IPB employees, as well as low-ranking civil servants, are entitled to a free testing, but women unaffiliated with the institute will be charged a small fee of Rp 50,000 each.

Budiarti said that the smears would be sent to Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital in Central Jakarta, and those diagnosed with uterine cancer would be referred to the Indonesian Red Cross Hospital in Bogor for immediate treatment. -- JP