LIVESTRONG BLOG

Global Commitments to Fight HPV and Cervical Cancer

Jun 18, 2009 by Brooke McMillan

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Additional commitments in the fight against cancer were unveiled today for the LIVESTRONG Global Cancer Summit. The following are focused on halting the spread of the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) which causes 70% of all cervical cancers. More than half a million women are diagnosed with cervical cancer each year ? 68,000 in Africa; 77,000 in Latin America; and 245,000 in Asia. Cervical cancer is the second leading cause of death from cancers among women worldwide causing 288,000 deaths annually.

Ann Maina, a cervical cancer survivor, is the Founder of The Pink Ribbon Initiative in Nairobi, Kenya. Her organization is the first of its kind to undertake a cervical cancer awareness campaign in her country. She experienced first-hand the stigma of the disease, lack of emotional support and education about the causes of cervical cancer. She plans to increase awareness and reduce stigma of the disease.

Maria Ines Marchegiani de Ucke, CEO of Liga Argentina de Lucha Contra el Cancer (LALCEC) of Buenos Aires, Argentina, is establishing a National Free Pap Test Week/Cervical Cancer Screenings to provide free screenings to discover cervix cell changes and early cervical cancers before they cause symptoms. Behind breast cancer, cervical cancer is the number two killer of women in Argentina, and most prevalent among women in rural areas. She plans to provide mobile units used to reach rural areas, establish a National Free Pap Test Week to increase awareness of cervical cancer prevention.

Sarah Maongezi, CEO of the Medical Women Association of Tanzania in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, is launching an awareness campaign for young women in primary schools to promote HPV screenings and vaccinations. Since the HPV vaccine has not yet been introduced in Tanzania, she plans to advocate for the importance of screening, especially in urban and rural schools, by lobbying policymakers. Maongezi plans to reach her goal of successfully raising awareness and improving knowledge of cancer in Tanzania by 2020.

Heather Lane, an employee with Jhpiego in Baltimore, Maryland, is making a commitment to lower the incidence and mortality rates of cervical cancer among HIV positive women through innovative integration services in the South American country of Guyana. Jhpiego will specifically work with the Guyana government to not only implement its goal of routine screening for HIV, but also require routine HPV screenings during these patients? visits. In addition, medical professionals will be trained in using a Single Visit Approach (SVA)/Visual Inspection with Acetic Acid (VIA), a cost-effective intervention that can be easily implemented in low-resource settings. Coupled with government funding, Jhpiego will campaign to increase cancer awareness and strengthen the quality of referral and monitoring systems of the diagnosed and treated.

Groesbeck Parham, MD, a gynecologic oncologist at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, is making a commitment to significantly reduce cervical cancer mortality by opening more clinics that use the Single Visit Approach (SVA) and the Visual Inspection with Acetic Acid (VIA) across Zambia while ensuring quality of care and appropriate technique. After treating more than 30,000 women at 17 clinics in three years, Parham is working to raise $29 million, expand to 80 clinics and screen a record 80,000 women per year. This quality of care, offered for free, would eventually allow the integration of HPV testing and vaccinations.

Read more about the global commitments made this week and watch the video below to learn more about the LIVESTRONG Global Summit taking place in Dublin this August.