Dr. Pilly Shing’oma (Picha na Friday Simbaya)
TANZANIAN women have been urged to take advantage of screening opportunities, recognizing the signs of cervical cancer, and seeking health care without delay.
The Focal Person- Iringa Referral Hospital for Cervical Cancer Prevention Program, Dr. Pilly Shing’oma made an announcement on Friday during an exclusive interview with the Guardian on Sunday.
She said that the country is reported to have the highest number of cervical cancer cases in East Africa, which is why women should take up advantage of screening opportunities.
"Screening" means looking for a disease in people who do not have any signs or symptoms of that disease. Cervical cancer screening can be done with a Papanicolaou (Pap) test and/or a test for human papillomavirus (HPV). The Pap test looks for conditions or tumors that may lead to cervical cancer,” Dr. Shing’oma said.
Dr. Shing’oma said that Iringa Municipal Council health providers in collaboration with Jhpiego cervical cancer prevention program carried out a cervical cancer mass screening free of charge to Iringa women which started on 18th and ended on 21st January this year.
She said that 385 women in Iringa Municipal Council who were diagnosed, and 23 out of them tested VIA positive and treated immediately.
She noted that during the mass screening reached also for 21 women prisoners from one of the Iringa Prisons where among the 385 women diagnosed.
She said that mass screening centers were setup in three places to carry out the exercise as well as Iringa Referral Hospital, Neema Crafts and University of Iringa.
Visual Inspection with Acetic acid (VIA) is a recognized alternative to the cytology-based model of cervical cancer prevention services and involves visual inspection of the cervix after application of acetic acid, followed by immediate treatment.
The team of health providers in Iringa Municipal Council has carried out a four day cervical cancer mass screening by using Visual Inspection with Acetic acid (VIA) methodology which is the “Single Visit Approach (SVA),” championed by Jhpiego.
The naked-eye visual inspection of the cervix with acetic-acid wash (VIA) is an alternative to cytology in screening for cervical cancer in poorly resourced locations.
The cervical cancer is both preventable and treatable; but many women do not have access to health services due to limited resources in many screening, prevention and treatment into existing health system structures.
During these tests, a sample is taken from the cervix, tested, and looked at under a cervicoscopy and it is usually not painful, and the targeted age group was 30-50 who are at high risk of getting HPV infections.
Although the program was carried out free of charge the turnout in Iringa town was recorded very low that was due to lack of knowledge and skills of women to protect themselves against cervical cancer.
Tanzanian women must be empowered with knowledge and skills to protect themselves against cervical cancer.
Suggestions for improving outcomes include changing high-risk behavior, taking advantage of screening opportunities, recognizing the signs of cervical cancer, and seeking health care without delay.
Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer in women worldwide, with 500,000 new cases and 250,000 deaths reported each year.
Approximately 80% of cases occur in developing countries including Tanzania, where more than 95% of women have never had a Pap test.
Many of these cases can be avoided through early screening and treatment, and now also through vaccination against human papillomavirus (HPV), the virus that can lead to cervical cancer.
How do people get HPV?
HPV is a sexually-transmitted infection. In most cases a person will become infected after having vaginal and/or anal sex.
Men and women can also become infected through oral and other sex play.
In many cases a person will not realize they are infected, and can still have HPV years after coming into contact with an infected person.
In very rare cases a pregnant woman can pass HPV to her baby during delivery.
In these cases a child can develop recurrent respiratory papillomatosis (RRP), a rare condition where warts grow in the throat.
Most cervical cancer is caused by a virus called human papillomavirus, or HPV. You can get HPV by having sexual contact with someone who has it.
There are many types of the HPV virus. Not all types of HPV cause cervical cancer. Some of them cause genital warts, but other types may not cause any symptoms.
Most adults have been infected with HPV at some time. An infection may go away on its own. But sometimes it can cause genital warts or lead to cervical cancer.
That's why it's important for women to have regular Pap tests. A Pap test can find changes in cervical cells before they turn into cancer. If you treat these cell changes, you may prevent cervical cancer.
Abnormal cervical cell changes rarely cause symptoms. But you may have symptoms if those cell changes grow into cervical cancer.
Symptoms of cervical cancer may include: Bleeding from the vagina that is not normal, such as bleeding between menstrual periods, after sex, or after menopause, pain in the lower belly or pelvis, pain during sex and vaginal discharge that isn't normal.
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