Preventing Cervical Cancer Deaths in Rural Guatemala

While cervical cancer can be prevented and successfully treated with early detection, it remains a leading cancer killer among women in Guatemala. Women face an array of barriers to accessing effective screening and follow-up care, including awareness, cost, language and discrimination. To curb illness and deaths from cervical cancer, Rotary International is working with local nonprofits to make education, vaccines, HPV testing and treatment accessible to more women in Guatemala.

Speakers:

Jill Hodges leads communications and development at Wuqu’ Kawoq | Maya Health Alliance, a 17-year-old non-profit dedicated to improving healthcare and building health equity in rural Guatemala. She has worked as a reporter, producer, analyst, and communications strategist in media, government, non-profit, and higher education in a variety of locations in the US and internationally. She has a master’s in public health from the University of Washington School of Public Health and a master’s in law from Yale Law School. She thrives on connecting people and ideas to advance health equity.

Susan Dean has been in Rotary for the last 6  years and is the current President of the Rotary Club of San Francisco Chinatown. She is a San Francisco native and a Registered Nurse with an MBA. She worked as a nurse in the operating room as well as a nurse manager. She has participated in over 35 international medical missions. On these Missions she found out about the amazing work that Rotarians do!