CERVICAL CANCER IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

 Cervical cancer poses a significant burden in Sub-Saharan Africa, due to limited access to preventive measures, early detection, and treatment services. At our facility, we usually diagnose three to four new patients with gynaecological cancer and mainly cervical cancer every month. They are often quite young and have concomitant HIV infection. Women often present with severe anaemia, pain, foul-smelling vaginal discharge, or even kidney failure.

 Last month I had to counsel the family of a young patient in her 30s who was very sick and delirious with end-stage cervical cancer and her biopsy results were still pending. The family members were her aunt and her sister. They were devastated to hear the news and they were not coping looking after her and her 3 young children, the youngest who was 18 months old.

 According to the World Health Organization (WHO), approximately 25% of all cervical cancer cases worldwide occur in Sub-Saharan Africa, even though this region represents only about 14% of the world’s female population. Many women do not have access to regular cervical cancer screening programs, such as pap smears or HPV testing. Poverty, limited education, and cultural beliefs all limit women’s access to cancer prevention and treatments. HIV infection is prevalent in this region and this also increases the risk of cervical cancer.  Vaccination programs are limited in many countries in this region which contributes to the high burden of the disease.

 The healthcare infrastructure has numerous challenges such as shortages of trained healthcare professionals, limited diagnostic facilities, and insufficient treatment centers. The biopsies taken take four to six weeks to be reported by the pathologists and the waiting list to start treatment is six to twelve months for the patients to get chemotherapy or radiation.

 We all hope for a better future for our women in this region of the world. There needs to be more public awareness to educate communities on the importance of cervical cancer prevention, early detection, and treatment.

Below is Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital which is one of the referral oncology centers. 



 


 

 

 


 

 

 

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

HERITAGE DAY

Image
  Heritage Day is a public holiday that is celebrated on the 24 th of September every year. It is a day that celebrates the diverse cultural heritage of South Africa, including its languages, traditions, customs, and history. My favourite part of Heritage Month is people with various cultures wearing their traditional attire and sharing their traditional food. Other activities during this month are different music and dance festivals, food markets, more art and museum visits, and most importantly family and friends getting together and braaiing! At work, we planned to celebrate Heritage Day and organize a farewell party for one of our colleagues on Friday the 27 th . It was a beautiful day with everyone wearing their traditional clothes to work and bringing a signature dish to share with everyone else. I am from the Middle East and was wondering what food item to bring. The traditional rice dishes are difficult to share. I thought about making chicken kebabs and flatbread, or sm...
Read more

ON MOTHERHOOD

Image
  My mother and I have a wonderful relationship together. Since I had a baby myself, I have needed her support even more these days. We are very blessed to stay in the same residential complex. Every morning I drop the baby by her and I know I can focus on work while she is taking good care of her. If I am running late from work or there is an emergency the baby can stay with her longer. My first memories of my mom, were probably when I was about 5 years old. My favourite bedtime story was the ugly duckling, and every single night I used to cry to that story even though it had a happy ending! The other memories are from the time my little brother was born. Back then we did not have disposable nappies and washing and drying the special cloths used as nappes was a process. I remember my little brother’s nappy time, bath time, and feeding times. The best memories of me and mom in my adult life is our little trip to Mauritius. Another prominent part of my childhood was grandma. She...
Read more

BEING PREGNANT

Image
  It is quite overwhelming for most women when they find out they are pregnant! With the aid of the new applications that track women’s menstrual cycle and the new urine pregnancy tests, most women who seek gynaecologic advice are about 6 weeks pregnant. Having the anxious couple in the consultation rooms waiting to see the little growing fetus on ultrasound can be very nerve-wracking for an ob-gyn. We want to see the little gestational sac with a tiny fetal pole showing us a flickering heartbeat. A failing pregnancy with no fetal pole, an empty uterus, or an ectopic pregnancy is certainly not the kind of news I want to give to the expecting mothers. A lot of physical changes happen to the body in the first three months of the pregnancy such as tender breasts and slight weight gain. Fatigue can be so severe that some women can just fall asleep in the middle of the dinner. It is a sign for our pregnant ladies to slow down and take it easy while that little human is growing inside ...
Read more