Help for the Andes Foundation 

Training in Rural Areas
​Help for the Andes serving Cuzco Women - July 2013

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

​The Women's Cancer Care Fund, July 2013 medical mission to Peru, in a joint venture with "Help for the Andes Foundation" was a huge success. Working mostly at CerviCusco Clinic and traveling to the local districts of Yanaoca, Ancahuasi and Maras to provide gynecological care for the poor, the mission objectives, of Dr. Cirisano's team, centered around the prevention and treatment of cervical cancer. The patient's care at the clinics we traveled to, consisted of mainly vaginal exams and Pap smears.

​As our bus arrived at the Ancahuasi Clinic, we were amazed to see all the women waiting for our arrival. Team Cirisano, the CerviCusco staff and medical students examined and treated 293 women on this one day. At CerviCusco clinic we were able to perform LEEP procedures, cone biopsies, colposcopies, and Pap smears as well. It was sad to see such a high incidence of cervical cancer and it was heartbreaking to see metastatic disease in such a large percentage of the women who never received medical preventive care. Our accomplishments far exceeded our expectations.

We are presently working on the preliminary stages of our next project. Utilizing Dr. Cirisano's expertise, a workshop will be presented on the DaVinci Robot for the training of Robotic gynecologic surgery in the Andes Region.

​Our special thanks to Rosita Raffo for her diligent work as project facilitator. Her experience and expertise in this field was invaluable to our mission.