PNG cervical cancer rates are among world’s highest

RADIO NEW ZEALAND INTERNATIONAL

THE HEAD OF SCIENCE at Papua New Guinea’s Institute of Medical Research, Andrew Vallely, says cervical cancer kills 1,500 women a year, more than any other cancer and a rate among the highest in the world.

He says pap smear screening has worked very well in urban areas over the last decade but is not as successful in rural parts of the country where the majority of women live.

Dr Vallely says a simultaneous screening and treatment early intervention program being trialled in the Highlands is likely to be rolled out across PNG.

“I think we are getting to the stage where we’ll soon have the data that can help policy makers develop definitive policy in these areas both for primary prevention, which is vaccination, and also secondary prevention, screening and early treatment,” he said.

Researchers are also looking at the incidence in the community of the cervical cancer-causing HPV virus.

Comments

[Dr Vincent Atua]

What can we do as Papua New Guineans?

Some suggestions are: educate our people about encouraging women to see a nurse or doctor if they have abnormal bleeding; get a pap smear at your provincial hospital; encourage village women to seek help sooner for their complaints; include cancer of the cervix in health talks in schools.

Each one of us can play a small but important role in telling at least one girl or woman about it so that they can seek help if they are having the symptoms, ie, abnormal bleeding.

[Joyce Bagi]

Dr Velley, you and your team need to make this known to everyone in our country so our policymakers can seriously act upon this issue.

Our females are at risk, we need primary to secondary prevention methods and procedures to know our status. This is an eye-opening issue for the ladies.

[Zenitram Dee]

Talking without action is already a syndrome of many people in authority or in power. When are we going to take action and solve the problem?

It is very true that many of the women in rural areas of our beautiful country are suffering. It is a wake up call.

[Nevegapa Abeya Sam]

I agree with this article. Cervical cancer in PNG is a high risk for our mothers, our wives and our daughters.

They are suffering from that disease and we need to do something in order to cure it. We need to find means and ways to prevent the ladies from being infected.

Government should talk over that matter to come up with solutions. There must be a solution to this problem.