Is it time to part with the pap?

A new study is showing that the HPV test is actually more accurate in detecting early signs of cervical cancer than taking a pap test:

The test for the human papillomavirus, or HPV, found 95 percent of cases in which women had potentially pre-cancerous changes in the cervix. This compared to 55 percent of Pap smears, the team at McGill University in Montreal found.
“We’re proposing to go straight to the HPV test,” said team leader Eduardo Franco.

While this finding is obviously a huge deal, it doesn’t come without a price – literally; a pap test costs between $10 and $20, while the HPV test costs up to $90.
Between the vaccine and the test, HPV is creating quite a market. I guess the uninsured and low-income can, you know, just deal with the cancer.