Vital Voices for Africa (VVA) has made a passionate appeal to African governments and development partners to prioritize the prevention and control of cervical cancer.
Cervical cancer, the NGO said, can be eliminated but unfortunately, it is not a priority for African governments and development partners.
Executive Director of VVA, Caleb Ayong, made the appeal on 17 July 2024 during a virtual event dubbed #HerReasonForBeing and hosted by Being Africa.
He stressed the necessity for substantial investments in Human Papillomavirus Infection (HPV) vaccination and cervical cancer screening to meet the targets of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Global Strategy for cervical cancer elimination.
The WHO’s strategy, adopted by the World Health Assembly in August 2020, aims to reduce the incidence rate of cervical cancer to below 4 per 100,000 women by 2030.
The strategy rests on three key pillars: vaccinating 90% of girls with the HPV vaccine by age 15, screening 70% of women with a high-performance test by ages 35 and 45, and treating 90% of women with pre-cancer and managing 90% of women with invasive cancer.
“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,” Mr. Ayong added.
Medical experts warn that the early stages of cervical cancer typically have no symptoms, making regular screening crucial for early detection and effective treatment.
Mr. Ayong, however, pointed out that a major deterrent for women is the embarrassment of exposing their private parts to a medical practitioner, often a male.
He advocated for the availability and affordability of less intrusive screening methods, such as the self-applied HPV DNA test.
Using the Roll Back Malaria initiative as an example, where massive investments have been made to sensitize populations on malaria prevention and control, Mr. Ayong urged similar investments for cervical cancer eradication.
He said, “It is expensive, but the good thing is that it only concerns women, more so, women of a certain age. So why not target the age group, invest in these women, and get them protected once and for all?”
The WHO reports that cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer in women globally, with around 660,000 new cases and approximately 350,000 deaths in 2022.
The highest incidence and mortality rates are in low- and middle-income countries.
Mr. Ayong stressed, “Achieving the WHO’s targets is possible if governments and development partners prioritize HPV vaccination and screening.”
“This can change if we ensure that HPV vaccines are available for every girl of vaccination age, the self-applicable and more efficient HPV DNA test is provided at least twice to every sexually active female, and effective screening and vaccination strategies are implemented.”
