Wake up women, stand against cervical cancer
Spreading awareness of cervical cancer through health education seen in this photo can make a big difference in the life of many women who are entirely ignorant of free cervical cancer screening called VIA, early treatment option and prevention.
Cervical cancer which affects lower third of uterus (also called cervix) is the most common cancer in women in Bangladesh. It constitutes about one fourth of the total number of female cancers patient in Bangladesh. An estimated about 13,000 new cases and 6600 deaths occur every year in Bangladesh. Most of these deaths are preventable if they would be detected early. Ironically, 80 percent of the women with cervical cancer come for treatment at an advanced and inoperable stage due to the ignorance about regular check-up and screening services, lack of adequate and widespread screening facilities. Many women never attend hospitals and they accept death for granted. Usually they do not know about the prevention and treatment options of cervical cancer. Other important factors of high prevalence of cervical cancer in Bangladesh are marriage at young age, polygamy, sexually transmitted diseases, low socio-economic condition, low educational level and so on. Cervical cancer can be detected by different screening tests called Pap smear test and HPV test, Visual Inspection of Cervix with Acetic Acid (VIA). Among the methods, VIA has been introduced by the Government of Bangladesh to screen mass population due to its cost effectiveness and easy to use method. Treatment is usually performed as an outpatient procedure under local anaesthesia and has an effective cure rate (80-96 percent) for most pre-cancers. All treated women are checked once every year for the next three years. This follow up is recommended to make sure that the abnormality has been adequately treated. In this way cervical cancer can be prevented. Another method of cervical cancer prevention is vaccination against Human Papillomavirus (HPV), another common cause of cancer. VIA was accepted as a feasible method of cervical cancer screening in Bangladesh as it is relatively simple. It needs minimum infrastructure support and the result of the procedure is available immediately. All the government medical college hospitals, district hospitals, maternal and child welfare centres and some of the urban primary health care centres have facilities for VIA test free of cost for the last few years by the support of UNFPA Bangladesh and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) who are helping GOB in expansion of these facilities. Please support women getting the diagnostic facility and convey the message to your near and dear ones to help her prevent cervical cancer. The writer is an Associate Professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) and Focal Point, Cervical and Breast Cancer Screening Programme, Bangladesh. E-mail: ashra58@yahoo.co.uk
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