Silver Book Fact
Use of the Pap smear test is credited with cutting the age-adjusted cervical cancer incidence in half between 1975 and 2001, reducing it from 14.8 to 7.9 cases per 100,000 women. The Pap smear is also credited with reducing the age adjusted cervical cancer death rate from 5.6 to 2.7 deaths per 100,000 women during that time.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics. Health, United States, 2005: With chartbook on trends in the health of Americans. Atlanta, GA: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; 2005. http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus05.pdf