History
As a medical student, Dr. Cremer visited Arcatao, a small village in northern El Salvador. During the semester she spent there, she helped provide basic healthcare needs to the community. While she was there, a woman bled to death from advanced stage invasive cervical cancer. She had never received a cervical cancer screening, and during the final stages of cancer had no access to pain medication.
This prompted Dr. Cremer to conduct a pap smear campaign in which she took around 70 pap smears for women living in the village and worked with a pathologist who read the slides for free.
After her initial visit, Dr. Cremer returned to El Salvador each year from 1998-2002, helping to provide reproductive health care and cervical cancer screening for thousands of women. With the help of dedicated volunteers, pediatric visits and eye care clinics were also made available during these medical delegations.
Finally, in 2008, Basic Health International incorporated as a 501(c)3 organization in the United Sates. In 2010, Basic Health International was also incorporated as an official non-profit in El Salvador.
Since 2006, BHI has screened over 8000 women for cervical cancer, treated 74 cervical pre-cancers, and diagnosed and treated 10 cervical cancers. In 2010 alone, we trained 27 new providers in VIA and cryotherapy, educated 150 health promoters about HPV and cervical cancer and screened over 1200 women.
“I am so fortunate that what began as a small project while I was medical school has led to a national cancer prevention program.” – Dr. Cremer
BHI continues to grow each year, reaching more and more women. By the end of 2013, we hope the entire rural population of El Salvador will have access to cervical cancer screening. Additionally, in the coming years we will provide training in VIA and cryotherapy to physicians from all over Latin America, including Guatemala, Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic and Haiti.