A Consultant Obstetrician and Gynecologist, Dr Ayodele Ademola, has called for massive education on cancer of the cervix (cervical cancer), sensitization of the public to the disease and need for screening and vaccination.
Ademola, the Medical Director, StrongTower Hospital and Advanced Fertility Centre, a Lagos-based private medical facility, made the call in an interview on Thursday in Lagos.
January is Cervical Health Awareness Month. The theme of the World Cervical Health Awareness Month 2024 is: “Learn. Prevent. Screen.”
The cervix is the lower, narrow end of the uterus, or womb. It forms a canal between the uterus and vagina, which opens to the outside of the body.
The cervix acts as a gateway to the uterus through which sperm travel to reach and fertilise an ovum, or egg cell, to create an embryo.
Ademola described cervical cancer as the second most prevalent cancer among women with higher prospects of prevention and treatment.
He explained that the main cause of cervical cancer was persistent infection with high-risk types of human papillomavirus (HPV), an extremely common family of viruses that are transmitted through sexual contact.
Quoting a report by WHO, Ademola said that in 2020, an estimated 604 000 women were diagnosed with cervical cancer worldwide and about 342 000 women died from the disease.
She said most of these cases and deaths occurred in low- and middle-income countries.
According to him, countries have only 6 years left, until 2030, to meet the World Health Organisation (WHO) targets that will help make cervical cancer elimination a reality within this timeframe.
“With over 12,075 cervical cancer cases and 7,968 deaths recorded annually in Nigeria, there is need for a scale up to sustain the impact of public sensitisation on cervical cancer.
“There is urgent need to scale up screening programmes, improve coverage of HPV vaccination and expand access to affordable treatment,” he said.
The Gynaecologist said women within child-bearing age and sexually active girls were the vulnerable demographic segment of the women populace to the disease.
He outlined the basic prevention tips to include early vaccination, screening and pre-cancer treatment.
“It is instructive for these vulnerable groups of women to undergo screening once in two to three years.
“The screening process is simple and fast. The cells are put into a special liquid and sent to a laboratory for testing.
“Cervical cancer is the one of the few cancers with a pre-cancer stage. Which means you can stop it before it starts.
“You can prevent cervical cancer through regular screening; there are also vaccines which protect against the HPV virus.
“It is also instructive for women and girls to take this vaccine which are readily available in some hospitals and health centres across the country,” he said.
Ademola said that the government had done a lot but needed to do more by way of public enlightenment so that people would know that early detection could save lives.
He advised that every Nigerian needs to commit to the elimination of cervical cancer as this would ensure that women no longer suffer and die from a preventable and curable disease.
