International meeting to help reduce cervical cancer

A THREE-DAY international meeting of African First Ladies, African Ministers of Health and Members of Parliament is to be held in Accra in July to discuss strategies for reducing cervical cancer in Africa.
Dubbed, “The Fourth Stop Cervical Cancer in Africa”, the conference, which will also be attended by medical doctors and other health practitioners, is on the theme: “Africa unite in action, mobilising political and financial support to strengthen cervical cancer prevention”.
The three-day conference is being hosted by the Ghana Government, in collaboration with Princess Nikky Breast and Cervical Cancer Foundation, a Nigeria-based non-governmental organisation at the forefront of breast and cervical cancer prevention and control in Africa.
It has the aim of advocating increased awareness on cervical cancer in Africa, as well as mobilising for effective strategy implementation through working with other partners in order to reduce stigmatisation of people suffering and living with cervical cancer.
It also has the objective to mobilise the needed resources for the development of policies, strategies and action to fight cervical cancer at national, regional and international levels.
Quoting from a World Health Organisation (WHO) studies, the Minister of Health, Dr Benjamin Kunbuor, said at a pre-conference press briefing in Accra that 18 per cent of all cancer deaths in Ghana was due to cervical cancer, adding that "cervical cancer is the leading cause of cancers in women in Ghana".
He pointed out that unfortunately, most of the cancers seen at the country’s health facilities were advanced cases which could be cured if detected early and stated that management of those advanced cases was very expensive with poor result.
Dr Kunbuor expressed the hope that the conference would accelerate Ghana’s efforts at advocacy and awareness creation, as well as enhance the country’s efforts of implementing a comprehensive cervical cancer prevention programme.
For her part, the Executive Director of Princess Nikky Breast Cancer Foundation, Princess Nikky Onyeri, said the conference was expected to advocate increased awareness on cervical cancer in Africa to reduce stigmatisation of people suffering and living with cervical cancer.
She said it was also to update and educate stakeholders on recent developments in cervical cancer prevention in Africa and around the world, and to strategise and mobilise African governments, global support and funding for cervical cancer prevention, among other issues.
Cervical cancer affects tissues of the cervix (the organ connecting the uterus and the vagina). It is usually a slow-growing cancer that may not have symptoms but can be found with regular Pap tests (a procedure in which cells are scraped from the cervix and looked at under a microscope). Cervical cancer is almost always caused by human papillomavirus (HPV) infection.