Cervical cancer vaccine available (Women and Gender Page)

FEMALES between the ages of 10 and 50 years could protect themselves against cervical cancer by being vaccinated.
In Ghana, health facilities where the vaccination could be provided are the Ridge Hospital, Trust Hospital at Osu, Akai House Clinic, Valumed at Accra Mall, Lister Hospital on the Spintex Road, the Surgical Medical Emergency (SME) Pharmacy of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Franklyn Medical and Medifem Hospital at Dzorwulu.
At the opening of a two-day annual general meeting (AGM) of the Lady Pharmacists Association of Ghana (LAPAG), in Accra on Thursday, a representative of the GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), Ms Theresa Galley, said since the vaccine (Cervarix) was introduced in Ghana in March this year, only about 1,000 women had availed themselves for the protective intervention.
She advised more women to take advantage of the vaccine to protect themselves from the disease, which she said was claiming the lives of many women globally.
The theme for the event was: LAPAG Cares; Cervical Cancer Prevention, a Smart Choice”.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), every two minutes, a woman dies of cervical cancer worldwide. The disease is the second most common cancer affecting women globally and accounting for about 80 per cent of all cancers. Every woman is said to be at risk of the disease, irrespective of her age.
Cervical cancer develops in the cervix, which is the low, narrow neck of the uterus that opens into the vagina. The cervix is of vital importance because it protects the uterus, which leads into the vagina, from infections.
Health professionals describe cervical cancer as malignant neoplasm of the cervix uteri or cervical area. It may present with vaginal bleeding but symptoms may be absent until the cancer is in its advanced stages.
Treatment of the disease consists of surgery in the early stages and chemotherapy and radiotherapy in its advanced stages.
Pap smear screening can identify potentially pre-cancerous changes. Treatment of high grade changes can prevent the development of cancer.
Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is a necessary factor in the development of nearly all cases of cervical cancer.
The HPV vaccine which has been introduced in Ghana since March this year, is effective against the two strains of HPV that usually cause cervical cancer. The vaccine has been licensed in the U.S. and by the European Union (EU). The two HPV strains together are currently responsible for approximately 70 per cent of all cervical cancers.
The LAPAG President, Mrs Sybil Ossei-Agyeman-Yeboah, advised Ghanaian women to avail themselves of regular screening to ensure the early detection and treatment of the disease, stressing that in developed countries, the widespread use of cervical screening programmes had reduced the incidence of invasive cervical cancer by 50 per cent or more.
In her address, a Physician at Franklin Medical Service, Dr Mrs Lynda Decker, gave some of the factors that caused cervical cancer as early sex, number of sexual partners in life, cigarette smoking, suffering persistent sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and a high number of pregnancies, among others.
In a speech read on her behalf, the Minister for Women and Children’s Affairs, Ms Akua Dansua, advised mothers to encourage their young daughters to go for vaccination before they became sexually active.
She gave the assurance that the government would support women to go for vaccination against the disease by paying for it in the near future.
Further checks done on the vaccine on the Internet at www.Patriciatrial.com indicated that the final analysis of the Patricia study shows that the HPV-AS04-adjuvanted vaccine (Cervarix) developed by GlaxoSmithKline for HPV types 16 and 18 had high efficacy against the pre-cancerous cervical lesions that could eventually lead to cervical cancer.
Cervarix is designed to prevent infection from HPV types 16 and 18, which currently cause about 70 per cent of cervical cancer cases.
Health professionals say HPV is a sexually transmitted virus, which causes cervical cancer in a small percentage of those infected. Cervarix is a preventive HPV vaccine, not therapeutic. HPV immunity is type-specific, so a successful series of Cervarix shots will not block infection from cervical cancer-causing HPV types other than HPV types 16 and 18; experts, therefore, continue to recommend routine cervical pap smears even for women who have been vaccinated.