PAHO echoes call for comprehensive cancer prevention programme

The Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) believes that a comprehensive prevention programme is necessary in the fight against cancer, the third leading cause of death in Guyana.
According to a report released by the organisation, Guyana has no comprehensive cancer prevention, treatment and control programme, despite the disease being the third leading cause of death.
Fifty per cent of countries in the Americas, like Guyana, do not have any cancer programmes.
PAHO/WHO Representative Dr William Adu-Krow had indicated that 40 per cent of all cancers globally can be prevented, while 30 per cent can be cured altogether.
He had stressed the need for more preventive measures and screening.
The report indicated that in December 2015, PAHO supported the Ministry of Public Health to conduct a situation analysis of cancer prevention, treatment and control as a precondition to the development of a National Cancer Plan.
The second step is for the statistics collected from the consultancy to be used, and for key stakeholders to develop the plan and proceed with establishment of the comprehensive programme.
It noted that incidences of cancer have increased from 1995, where 37 cases were reported. In 1996 and 1997, reported neoplasms cases were 64 and 125, respectively.
There has been no other records of cancer data found apart from the comprehensive database of the Guyana Cancer Registry, which was established in May 2000, and which contained data from 2000-2013.
These figures were collected from all public and private institutions. From 2000-2012, 8153 cancers were recorded in the registry database; 6518 were recorded for a growing incidence of 867.7— which translates into an average annual incidence of 86.7 per 100,000 population.
PAHO indicated further that there were progressive annual increases in the numbers of cancers which peaked in 2007 and began fluctuating afterwards. The report denoted that females were affected 1.54 times more than males, with 3956 and 2561 cancers, respectively.
It added that approximately a fifth of all cancers were found in persons aged 75 years and older, with the second most affected age group 15-39 years with 597 (11%) of cancers. Only 2% of all recorded cancers were found in the paediatric age group (age less than 15).
It stated further that there has been no data found which demonstrated that Guyana has ever had a comprehensive cancer prevention, treatment and control programme inclusive of systematic and comprehensive screening.
In the 1990s some amount of screening of women attending gynaecological clinics with Pap smear was conducted, however, it was limited in scope and lacked promotion, the report added.
In 2009, Visual Inspection with Acetic Acid (VIA) screening of women attending antenatal clinics commenced. In addition to screening through staining of the cervix and surrounding vaginal vault with acetic acid, suspicious lesions were also treated with cryotherapy, while patients with gross lesions were referred for further evaluation and treatment.
In all, some 19 VIA clinics were established and data on all persons accessing this service were compiled.  Data from 2013-2015 have revealed that 7572 women were screened at the Georgetown Public Hospital clinic, with 7544 having data entered.
The vast majority of those screened were of Afro-Guyanese descent, followed by Indo-Guyanese.