Impact of Rural Hospital Closures on the Cervical Cancer Epidemic

As a researcher with the Southern Rural Black Women’s Initiative and a Washington County Supervisor, I’ve witnessed the systemic deficiencies leaving Black women in the Mississippi Delta deprived of essential health care. The forthcoming No Excuse report, produced in partnership with Human Rights Watch, highlights a critical issue: Black women in the Delta encounter significant obstacles regarding cervical cancer prevention and treatment, worsened by the ongoing closure of rural hospitals in Mississippi. Despite cervical cancer being highly preventable, the state exhibits one of the highest mortality rates nationally. Alarmingly, Black women are nearly 1.5 times more likely to die from this disease compared to their white counterparts. The report illustrates the urgent need for policy reforms to address this dire public health and human rights crisis.