Dear Editor
According to the World Health Organization, cervical cancer is preventable and curable, provided it is detected early and managed effectively. The big shock is that it is the 4th most common form of cancer among women worldwide, with the disease claiming the lives of almost 350,000 women in 2022.
And get this: Few diseases reflect global inequities as much as cancer of the cervix. The stats show that nearly 94% of the deaths in 2022 occurred in low- and middle-income countries. This is where the burden of cervical cancer is greatest because access to public health services is limited and screening and treatment for the disease have not been widely implemented.
This is where I make my point and heap kudos on the Government of Guyana, as some 211,000 women are set to be screened for the said cervical cancer by 2030. Dr Frank Anthony, Minister of Health, heralded this great venture, explaining that it is “in keeping with the commitments made in Budget 2024, (and thus) several Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) (were signed) with various partners to provide targeted members of the population with vouchers for cervical cancer and eye tests (as) this Government-led initiative is aimed at enhancing access to healthcare for citizens.”
From my reading, I see that it is a twin package, coming “Under the agreement (of) two programmes, the National Eye Screening Programme and the HPV Screening Programme, which will soon be launched. And staying with the Cervical Cancer Screening, the Health Minister noted that approximately 211,000 women between the ages of 21 and 65 will be facilitated for screening by the Government’s provision of a voucher worth $8,000 for each woman.
Adding to this largesse is the quality and expanse of the programme, as “…the Ministry has partnered with several private agencies to administer the HPV tests, which include diagnosis and treatment plans aimed to cover 70 per cent of the female population.” The injection to make this a reality will come from the Dr. Balwant Singh Hospital, Eureka Labs, and Woodlands Hospital.
Editor, this moment must not be lost. Cervical cancer is serious. The Government is making the effort, and it stands to reason that the women must capitalise. I recall in May 2018, the World Health Organization Director-General announced a global call for action to eliminate cervical cancer, underscoring renewed political will to make elimination a reality and calling for all stakeholders to unite behind this common and very important goal.
Then, in August 2020, the World Health Assembly adopted the Global Strategy for cervical cancer elimination. Indeed, “Now is the time to act to eliminate cervical cancer as a public health problem.” To do so, all countries must reach and maintain an incidence rate of below 4 per 100,000 women.
Achieving that goal rests on three key pillars and their corresponding targets: vaccination, screening and treatment. As I said before, cervical cancer is generally viewed as treatable and curable, particularly if it is diagnosed when the cancer is in an early stage.
Yours truly,
Hargesh B Singh
