Latest update April 19th, 2024 12:59 AM
Oct 20, 2017 News
Although it is said to be the second leading cause of cancer in developing countries, health officials in Guyana have labelled cervical cancer as the one that results in the most deaths among women.
In order to reduce its prevalence, the Ministry of Public Health has engaged preventative measures, including a vaccination campaign aimed at combating the Human papillomavirus [HPV] which is known to cause cervical cancer.
UNICEF Representative, Sylvie Fouet has amplified that the HPV vaccine is capable of “giving the body the ammunition to fight the deadly cervical cancer”. She assured that combating cervical cancer is insurance for the future.
On Monday last, the Ministry launched a national distribution campaign for the HPV vaccination programme. The renewed fight got started at the Bartica Community Centre in Region Seven (Cuyuni/Mazaruni) for school girls 9 to 13 years old. It was at a ceremony to launch the campaign that Fouet offered her remarks.
The campaign is slated to target some 36,000 future female adults over the next 12 months. In order to see the desired results materialise, Fouet said, “Lets’ join hands together to get a successful vaccination programme in Guyana (because this) is an investment in the future.”
Guyana is noted for its successful vaccination campaigns over the last 47 years and thus has been able to see the elimination of polio, yellow fever and measles. Under the Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) , more than 95 per cent of the targeted groups have been immunised against various diseases since 1970.
Dr Janice Woolford, Specialist, Maternal and Child Health at the PAHO/WHO Guyana office, reiterated that the EPI effort is a “priority programme” for the hemispheric and global body, and through its support, Guyana has achieved a 100 per cent elimination of measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) over the last four decades.
She cautioned however that Guyana must “maintain surveillance” since there have been reports of the MMR disease outbreaks in some neighbouring countries bordering the South American Republic.
Since Guyana has a successful track record of combating diseases, Dr. Woolford argued that the Public Health Ministry can achieve similar results with the HPV campaign. She recalled that between 2012 and 2014, Guyana targeted the killer-disease, but sustained, negative media coverage threatened to hamper the effort.
In addition, there was a lack of public education and conviction by the previous administration, which also helped to ambush the local effort, although some 21,600 Guyanese received the HPV vaccine during the three-year period.
This time around, “there must be a concerted effort to debunk the myths that surround the administration of the vaccine so that there will be successful implementation of the programme. We cannot deny the importance of effective public awareness and education,” said Minister within the Ministry of Public Health, Dr Karen Cummings, in a candid address.
Citing global statistics, she observed that the WHO has disclosed that HPV Types 16 and 18 are the cause of approximately “70 percent of both cervical cancerous and precancerous cervical lesions.”
The World Health Organisation [WHO] has reported that cervical cancer, linked to HPV, is the second most common cause of cancer among women living in the developing countries. In 2012, there were approximately 445,000 new cases of cervical cancers in the developing countries, in which Guyana is a member. It was estimated that some 270,000 women died from cervical cancer. More than 85 per cent of these deaths occurred among women living in low and middle-income countries.
In the case of Guyana, the highest incidence and prevalence rate of cervical cancer is among Afro-Guyanese women, Dr. Cummings said.
She said the data demonstrated that approximately two-thirds (66 per cent) of all of the cases of cervical cancer occurred among women below the age of 60 and the highest percentage occurred in the 15-39 years age group.
The Minister was at the time making reference to research conducted by Dr. Morris Edwards. His findings are contained in the Public Health Ministry’s 2015 Surveillance Report.
The data demonstrated that a mere four per cent of the cervical cancers that occurred among Guyanese women over a 10-year period were diagnosed at stage one, where it is possible to reverse the condition.
Unfortunately, the majority of the patients were diagnosed at stage four which contributed to an average annual mortality of 27 per 100,000.
“It was calculated that in Guyana, cervical cancer is a leading contributor to Years of Potential Life Lost, as between 2003-2012, the number of years of potential life lost was 8,152 years,” the Minister underscored.
Cummings emphasised that the government will not relent in its fight to beat back the march of HPV and cervical cancer, and added that “we are looking for a dramatic decrease in the HPV-related cancers” in Guyana.
To do so, she said, the ongoing campaign will focus on health literacy, school-based vaccination clinics, mapping of target audiences which include parents, social media and face-to face communication.
“Each One, Reach One, Teach One,” is the slogan that must be embraced, Dr Cummings said, to effectively combat HPV.
Regional Executive Officer (REO) of Cuyuni/Mazaruni, Mr. Roderick Edinboro, has assured the Public Health Ministry that the mining community is fully behind the HPV campaign initiative.
He said that similar sentiments have come from PAHO/WHO; the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB); the Global Alliance for Vaccination and Immunisation (GAVI); local private sector agencies and the Ministry of Education among other bodies.
Please share this to every Guyanese including your house cats.
Apr 19, 2024
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