The Mexican Public Health Agency (Secretaria de Salud or SSA) is launching the first phase of a programme that will offer testing for human papillomavirus (HPV) to low-income women aged 35-65.
In the first phase of the screening programme, more than 200,000 women in the 125 lowest-income counties are being offered the papillomavirus test along with the traditional Pap smear.
In 2009, the pilot programme will be expanded to include another 600,000 women in the 20 states with the highest death rate from cervical cancer.
Since taking office, President Felipe Calderon has made reducing health inequalities in Mexico a top priority for his administration.
Cervical cancer is a major focus of this campaign since so many Mexican women are affected.
One of the national initiatives to date has been coordination among the social, private and public sectors to increase the efficiency and efficacy of cervical cancer prevention by modifying the Official Mexican Norm (NOM-014-SSA2-1994) for the disease.
The changes are designed to better facilitate the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cervical cancer among the most vulnerable women through public education and use of the most advanced, effective technologies for screening - including the HPV test.
The World Health Organization estimates that 11 per cent of Mexican women carry cervical HPV at any given time.
'As in many countries, cervical cancer is the most prevalent cancer in Mexican women between the ages of 15-44,' said Peer Schatz, chief executive officer of Qiagen, the company that developed the digene HPV test, which will be used in the SSA's programme.
'Every year, more than 12,000 Mexican women are diagnosed with cervical cancer and nearly half of them die, yet this is an entirely preventable disease.
'Qiagen is committed to joining with the SSA to assure that advanced screening technology is accessible to women everywhere.' In the majority of women, the virus goes away or is suppressed by the body before it causes any problems.
However, in others the infection lingers and can cause abnormal cells to form.
While the traditional Pap smear is usually able to find abnormal cells, it sometimes misses them.
A study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute found that about one third of invasive cervical cancers developed in women whose smears had appeared normal.
In contrast, HPV testing detects the presence of the virus itself.
In the national norms for cervical cancer prevention, which were updated in 2007, physicians are advised that they can supplement the Pap with HPV testing in women 25-65 for additional protection.
If abnormal cells are diagnosed early, they can be removed before they develop into cervical cancer.
It is estimated that six million women a year will be eligible for HPV testing through the Mexican public health system once the screening programme is national.
An additional one million women can access the test using private insurance.
