Page 33 - Islands Business October 2022

Health

SAVED FROM THE UNKNOWN

STEPPING UP THE FIGHT AGAINST CERVICAL CANCER

By Samantha Magick Chris Golden, says the network is looking into outreach work
on cervical cancer, but the lack of data is problematic.
One in four women with cervical cancer live in what the “We do lack data. Of the nine countries we are in, only five
World Health Organisation (WHO) defines as the ‘Western of them provide cervical cancer data. Four of them either do
Pacific Region’, a collection of Asia and Pacific Island states not, or it’s old and hasn’t been counted in many years. So lack
and territories. of data is probably the biggest problem we have.”
An estimated 145,700 women were diagnosed with cervi- He continues: “Cervical cancer is the second most prevalent
cal cancer in 2020 says WHO. And of those, 74,900 died from form of cancer affecting women in the Pacific. In Solomon
what is a largely preventable disease. Islands and Marshall Islands it’s the largest form of cancer
It is the second most common cancer in Melanesia and the actually. Number one is usually breast cancer. So women are
sixth in Polynesia. more likely to die of these
These alarming statis- two cancers than any other.
tics prompted delegates And the level of prevalence
attending the World Health in some countries is really
Organization (WHO) Re- quite high, which is why
gional Committee for the finding ways to attack it is
Western Pacific this month going to be important.”
to endorse a Strategic He notes the numbers
Framework for the Com- don’t always add up.
prehensive Prevention and “We do have some cervi-
Control of Cervical Cancer cal cancer data from PNG,
in the region. for example, but they don’t
More than 95% of cervical match the population… And
cancer cases are linked to this means therefore most
infection with high-risk hu- deaths probably do not go
man papillomavirus (HPV). on to report it. Or they’re
Persistent infections can reported as other cancers
cause cervical cancer in because they appear in
women. Professor Ian Frazer (who developed the HPV vaccine) and a nurse give vaccinations in Port other places once they
Vila. Photo: File
HPV vaccination and metastasize.”
screening and treatment of precancerous lesions are cost- In an interview shared by WHO, nurse midwife at the Fiji
effective ways to prevent cervical cancer. Last year, Rotary in Cancer Society, Karolina Tamani talks about the importance of
Australia and New Zealand announced a partnership with UNI- the outreach work she does, conducting screening in the com-
CEF to make the HPV readily available to teenage girls across munity for breast and cervical cancers and creating awareness
the Pacific. It is most effective when given to girls below age of the symptoms of cervical cancer.
15. All women should be screened for cervical at age 35 and “A lot of misconceptions make it difficult for the women to
again at age 45. access, to come forth to have a Pap smear done,” she says.
The WHO’s strategic framework undertakes to eliminate “For screening, misconceptions include that the experience
cervical cancer in the region by: is painful, and that the instruments used for the tests cause
• Stepping up vaccination, making vaccines more afford- cancer which is definitely not true.”
able and accessible, and integrating their delivery into She says her work can be rewarding. “I can still remember
national vaccination programmes. when we did an outreach in the Tailevu Highlands. Women
• Increasing screening coverage by strengthening human were given the information; they were very shy initially and
resources for health and including cervical cancer not interested in screening. But eventually, with more infor-
screening and treatment of precancerous lesions into mation and reassurance about the process of testing, they
local, regional and national cancer-control plans. came forward. There, we detected twin sisters who both had
• Ensuring timely, quality treatment by establishing positive results. The rewarding part of it is that we saw them
guidelines for the management of all stages of cervi- going through the referral process until they got their treat-
cal cancer, ensuring access to treatment and provid- ment done. I will remember that because it was an experi-
ing referral pathways for higher-level care, including ence whereby women were saved from something they didn’t
setting up subregional hubs. know they had.”
Meanwhile, International Planned Parenthood Federation
(IPPF) Director of Programmes and Operations in the Pacific, editor@islandsbusiness.com

Islands Business, October 2022 33