By Antynet Ford
African governments and development partners have been called to make cervical cancer prevention and control a priority, stating that there is a real opportunity to eliminate the disease.
Executive Director of Vital Voices for Africa (VVA) Caleb Ayong appealed during #HerReasonForBeing virtual space, a weekly event hosted by Being Africa.
Ayong says a major factor that discourages women from going for screening is the embarrassing fact that they must expose their private parts to a medical practitioner, who in most cases, is a man.
According to the VVA Executive Director, if HPV vaccination, and screening for cervical cancer are prioritized by governments and development partners in Africa, we can effectively meet the WHO global strategy and eliminate the disease in the continent.
He stressed the need to invest in making less intrusive screening methods more available and affordable so that more women can be comfortable getting screened.
“It is possible to eliminate cervical cancer, but it is not a priority for African governments and perhaps, development partners. I call on governments, international donors, and development partners to take it upon themselves to make the eradication of cervical cancer a priority. It can be done, but it is not a priority. That is the problem.” Caleb said.
“If we invest in making cervical cancer screening more user-friendly and less intrusive, it could help get many more women screened across the continent. Once we can get more women screened, we will be able to identify cervical cancer at an early stage, and the automatic result is that we will have fewer cases where the disease reaches an advanced, fatal stage.” He added.
There are currently two approved screening methods for cervical cancer which are the commonly used pap smear undertaken by a healthcare professional, and the more expensive but self-applied HPV DNA.
Medical experts warn that early stages of cervical cancer have no symptoms, and most cases of the disease are only detected when they are at an advanced stage, where treatment is no longer possible.
They therefore recommend regular screening to ensure early detection, when the condition can be completely treated.
In August 2020, the World Health Assembly adopted the Global Strategy for cervical cancer elimination, which aims to have countries reach and maintain an incidence rate of below 4 per 100 000 women by 2030. According to the WHO, achieving that goal rests on three key pillars and their corresponding targets.
These targets include getting 90% of girls fully vaccinated with the HPV vaccine by the age of 15; 70% of women screened using a high-performance test by the age of 35, and again by the age of 45; and 90% of women with pre-cancer treated and 90% of women with invasive cancer managed.