Gvt targets women with HIV for cervical cancer screening

Bulawayo (New Ziana)-THE government will scale up efforts to fight cervical cancer through screening programs targeting women with HIV, an official has said.

The move follows research by the Joint United Nations Program on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS) which showed that cervical cancer was now common among women, particularly those living with HIV.

Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC) Programs manager responsible for non-communicable diseases, Venus Mushininga said the screening exercise would go a long way in promoting women`s health in the country.

She said they were conducting screening programs for the general public at most health facilities, but were also now targeting women with HIV.

“We had screenings for the general public at most health facilities but now we have introduced screening programs targeted at women living with HIV, “she said.

Mushininga said at the moment women could be screened for Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) and once they were found positive, they could be screened further.

She said they had introduced artificial intelligence where they are conducting screenings using phones which can detect pre-cancer cervical lesions.

“Once the pre-cancer cervical lesions are detected we can be able to remove them so that they do not develop to cervical cancer later in life. With cervical cancer, it can take up to 10 years before the symptoms start showing, ” said Mushininga.

She added, “Since cervical cancer is caused by the sexually transmitted human papilloma virus (HPV) infection, we have actually moved towards implementing the global cervical cancer elimination strategy where we are having HPV screening as well as part of this trial.”

Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide, accounting for nearly 10 million deaths in 2020, or nearly one in every six deaths.

The most common are breast, lung, colon, rectum and prostate cancers.

Cancer-causing infections, such as human papillomavirus (HPV) and hepatitis, are responsible for approximately 30 percent of cancer cases in low-and lower-middle-income countries.

Many cancers can be cured if detected early and treated effectively.

According to national cancer registry, cancer cases almost doubled between 2009 and 2018 in the country largely due to factors such as behavioural risk factors for cancer, poor access to early diagnosis treatment and palliative care.

New Ziana