Cervical cancer killing more than 1600 Malawian women yearly

By LUCKY MKANDAWIRE

Malawi’s Ministry of Health has issued disturbing statistics of women developing and dying from cervical cancer in the country.

The disease causes death and according to the ministry it is the commonest and serious cancer in women accounting to about 45 percent of all cancers but if diagnosed and treated early it can easily controlled.

The ministry, in a media statement, discloses that over 2,300 women in the country develop cervical cancer and over 1,600 get killed from the disease and if nothing is done, the numbers may increase by over 60 percent by 2025 to 3,800 developing cases and approximately 2,600 deaths per year.

Cervical cancer is caused by different sub-types of the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV), a sexually transmitted virus.

And the ministry says it will start giving out HPV vaccine to prevent cervical cancer to adolescent girls aged between nine and 13 in Zomba and Rumphi districts.

Ministry of Health Spokesperson, Henry Chimbali, said the initiative, which is on pilot phase, started Monday, September 23, and will target approximately 4,450 girls in Rumphi and 2,500 in Zomba urban district before rolling it out nationwide.

Financed by Global Alliance on Vaccine Initiative (GAVI), which assists developing countries introduce new and underutilized vaccines, and other partners, if the pilot phase of the project succeeds, the country would be able to scale up the vaccine nationally by 2015.

The introduction of HPV vaccination among adolescent girls follows World Health Organization (WHO) recommendation and currently there are two vaccines that can prevent diseases caused by the HPV.

According to Chimbali, vaccination against HPV to adolescent girls is an effective approach in preventing cervical cancer the country experiences with the introduction of new vaccines which include Pentavalent, pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV), and rotavirus vaccines.

The vaccine, which is given on the upper arm of a girl, is to be given in three doses at zero months (Sept), second month (November) then sixth month (March).

Most HPV infections go away on their own within one to two years and do not cause cancer. However, about five to 10 percent of women infected with high-risk HPV types develop persistent HPV infections.

Cancer is a disease in which a group of cells in an organ display uncontrolled growth, and can sometimes spread to other locations in the body.