Taylor first realized the magnitude of the problem during a visit to assist abused women in Honduras in 2003.

“I found three cases of cervical cancer in that two-week visit. I’d seen three cases of cervical cancer in my 25-year practice, so I was stunned," she says. "And I started to do some research and discovered that it is so high in these countries, just as if they hadn’t invented the Pap smear, which is what we use to control it here.”

By examining cells from a woman's cervix on a Pap smear, HPV infections can be quickly identified and treated. But for most poor women in developing countries, these exams are often inaccessible and unaffordable. Taylor was determined to find a cost-effective way to bring free medical care to these women.

See and treat

“I remember sitting in my office doing a screening for the abnormal cells and treating this woman and thinking, 'You know, I could put all this equipment in a suitcase and I could take it there and teach doctors and nurses to do this new method that had just been discovered and proven and which allows us to see and treat the condition in one visit.' And that was sort of my 'aha' moment. This wonderful method has now been discovered. It can be used in these countries and taught and doesn’t cost a lot of money. Why not go there and teach it?”

On a visit to Kenya two years ago, Taylor taught local doctors and nurses the so-called ‘see and treat’ technique - screening a woman for HPV, doing a biopsy, and removing cancerous cells - in a single visit to the clinic.