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WASHINGTON, USA (CMC) – According to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), more than 56,000 women in Latin America and the Caribbean have been diagnosed with cervical cancer and over 28 000 die each year.
OPS said it was striving to accelerate prevention and control efforts to create a future without cervical cancer, which is the third most common cancer among people living with HIV / AIDS. women in Latin America and the Caribbean, but can be avoided.
"It is unacceptable that women today are dying from a disease that can be largely prevented," said Silvana Luciani, head of the Noncommunicable Diseases Unit of the United Nations. OPS, on the eve of World Cancer Day, 4 February.
According to the report, the high number of cancer patients in Latin America and the Caribbean would reach 72,000 diagnoses and 34,000 deaths when the United States and Canada are included. However, there are prevention and treatment tools to save lives.
Cervical cancer can be prevented by vaccination against human papillomavirus (HPV). Vaccines that protect against the common types of HPV that cause cancer have been available for more than a decade. PAHO recommends administering this vaccine to girls aged 9 to 14 years.
In addition to vaccination, screening and treatment of precancerous lesions can prevent new cases and deaths. Over time, cervical cancer can be eliminated as a public health problem, said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of WHO.
The HPV vaccine is available in 35 countries and territories in the Americas region.
However, the OPS notes that in most countries, the vaccination coverage rate with the two recommended doses remains below the goal of at least 80% of girls.
In addition, access to screening and treatment services for precancerous lesions is insufficient and screening coverage rates are lower than the goal of at least 70% of women aged 30-49. years. It is estimated that at least 32 million women are screened for cervical cancer in the region.
To raise public awareness about the disease, the PAHO launched last November the communication campaign entitled "It's time to stop cervical cancer".
Under the slogan "Do not let cervical cancer stop you", the initiative provides information on HPV vaccines and calls on women to undergo regular examinations to detect lesions precancerous. The campaign responds to the plan to reduce by one third the new cases of cervical cancer and deaths in the region by 2030, as agreed by the health ministers of the United States. region at the meeting of the PAHO Directing Council in 2018.
"Governments should take urgent measures to ensure that all girls are vaccinated against HPV and that all women over 30 are examined and treated for precancerous lesions," said Luciani, adding that "this would save lives of thousands of women.
World Cancer Day, coordinated by the Union for the Fight Against Cancer every year on February 4, is an opportunity to bring the world together in the fight against the cancer epidemic in the world.
This year, 2019 marks the launch of the three-year campaign with the slogan "I Am and I Will," a call for action that empowers and demands a personal commitment to help reduce the impact of the campaign. Cancer.
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