16% of women tested this year positive for HPV – health official

…says over 1300 tests conducted since March

As the Health Ministry continues to fight against cervical cancer by promoting early screening, it has been revealed that 16 per cent of those tested for the year so far are positive for HPV, a sexually-transmitted infection that is the primary cause of cervical cancer.
On Wednesday the health ministry through its Maternal and Child Health Department hosted a HVP scientific conference.

The engagement, which was held at the Ramada Princess Hotel, Georgetown brought together leaders from the local and international health community. Speaking at the event was Coordinator of the Cancer Services and Chronic Disease Unit Dr Shanique Greaves who delved into statistics relating to HPV screening this year.
According to Dr Greaves from March 2025 to date over 1300 persons were screened for HPV through the ministry’s voucher programme with approximately 16 percent of tests displaying positive results.
“To date, I can give you the figure. We have about 1,307 persons that have taken advantage of getting tested. And about 208 results have now been positive. Of those 208 results that we found to be positive, I mean this is now starting from March to present day, but it would have been shown that strains 33, 39, 52, 58 were a little bit more prevalent from the positive strains that we gathered this year.”
Last year, some 12,000 women between the ages 21 to 65 years received screening for cervical cancer. Of the women screened, 17 per cent tested positive. The government is promoting early detection to fight against cervical cancer.
To achieve this, the government has begun rolling out monetary vouchers to alleviate the financial burdens associated with screenings.

This nationwide screening effort is part of Guyana’s broader strategy to meet WHO’s 2030 cervical cancer elimination targets, which include ensuring that 90 per cent of young girls are vaccinated against HPV by age 15, 70 per cent of women are screened with a high-performance test by age 35 and again by 45, and 90 per cent of women with precancerous or cancerous lesions are receiving appropriate treatment.
Meanwhile, speaking on behalf of Health Minister, Dr Frank Anthony at the event, Director of Primary Health Care, Dr Ertenisa Hamilton, reminded healthcare providers about the important role they play in ensuring all Guyanese citizens remain healthy.
“But the people who make the biggest impact are the healthcare workers who go daily, face the challenges, and still get the job done. And so when we look at sitting in this room this afternoon to speak about HPV, yes, we’re looking at the 9-valent and not the quadrivalent anymore. We still have to ensure that the vision remains the same. If we’re able to ensure that all of the girls, and now we’ve started looking at the boys, at least if the coverage is 90% and above, it means that we’re progressing along that curve of ensuring that within the next couple of years, we can say that we’ve eliminated cervical cancer.”
On this point, Dr Hamilton made a call to action to the attendees of the conference.
“That therefore means that every healthcare worker sitting in this room has a task to play in ensuring that every woman that is eligible is screened, every girl and every boy that is eligible is vaccinated, and if a woman is tested positive, that she receives the treatment that is required so that she can survive this. Cervical cancer is only deadly when you do not act and so I’m calling everyone in this room to action.”
She added, “We will not have yet another conference where we sit by and take in the information, but I’m calling you to action. Ensure that when you leave this room with the information that will be provided, it will be information to fuel the fire, increase the passion, so that every girl and every woman has the opportunity to live their lives to the fullest.”
Almost all cases of cervical cancer are caused by persistent infection with certain high-risk types of human papillomavirus (HPV). While many HPV infections are cleared by the body’s immune system, a persistent infection can lead to the development of abnormal cervical cells, which can eventually progress to cancer.