Cervical cancer remains a significant public health burden – CDA Consult

The Communication for Development and Advocacy Consult (CDA Consult) has reaffirmed that cervical cancer, the second leading cause of cancer in women in Ghana, claims countless lives every year and remains a critical health issue affecting our mothers, sisters, and daughters.

“This is a stark reminder of the urgent need for collective action. Cervical cancer is a preventable disease, yet it remains a significant public health burden in our country. The statistics are alarming,” Mr. Francis Ameyibor, CDA Consult Executive Director, stated in an interview in Tema.

He noted that as the world marks Mother’s Day this weekend, the greatest gift to offer mothers, daughters, sisters, wives, and lady friends is to assist them in either going through the vaccination or going for screening and diagnosis therapy.

Mr Ameyibor noted that the Ghana Health Service (GHS), statistics indicate that over 3,000 new cases of cervical cancer are diagnosed annually, with more than 2,000 deaths.

He said data indicates that the majority of cases are diagnosed at advanced stages, reducing treatment options and survival rates, stressing that “we must work together to change this narrative.

“We need to increase awareness and education about cervical cancer, its risk factors, and symptoms; improve access to screening services, including Pap tests and HPV vaccinations; enhance healthcare infrastructure; and train personnel for early detection and treatment.”

The CDA Consult Executive Director noted an urgent need for community engagement and support for those affected by the disease, emphasizing the need to join forces to combat cervical cancer in Ghana. “We owe it to our women, our families, and our nation to act now.

“Together, we can reduce the incidence and impact of cervical cancer and create a healthier future for all.”

Meanwhile, Dr. Prince Kofi Kludjeson, Board Chairman of CDA Consult, has reiterated that Ghana Must Rise Against Cervical Cancer, which is an initiative by CDA Consult, seeks to scale up preventive measures through vaccination, detection, and treatment of cervical cancer towards elimination by 2030.

He revealed that CDA Consult, which is a development communication advocacy non-governmental organization working in collaboration with the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) and the National Insurance Commission (NIC), educates the public on the dangers of cervical cancer.

Dr. Kludjeson, who is the former President of the Association of Ghana Industries, explained that Ghana Must Rise Against Cervical Cancer, emanating from the nationwide project “CDA Consult Free Cervical Cancer Change Paradigm Advocacy.”

He said CDA Consult is mobilizing stakeholders for relentless advocacy across the 16 regional capitals and about 120 districts in the next five years to ensure that “the public knows the intervention channels available to them to seek medical attention and, where possible, go for treatment.”

“We will therefore, in collaboration with other stakeholders, seek policy change and undertake capacity-strengthening initiatives that will focus on training and elevating the capacity of community health and outreach workers to deliver integrated services,” he stated.

Dr Kludjeson who is also the President and Founder of Cellltel Networks Limited stressed that CDA Consult is working with relevant state and non-state actors to ensure that screening and treatment programmes are accessible and appropriate to adolescents and young people since they have distinct healthcare, sexual, and reproductive health and rights, and educational, developmental, and psychosocial needs.

“Our vision is to scale up the advocacy for cervical cancer vaccination to be administered free and to hold public education across the 16 regions and 120 districts of Ghana to educate the public, particularly women, health professionals, and students, on the importance of vaccination,” he said.

He said the Free Cervical Cancer Screening, Prevention, Detection, and Treatment Change Paradigm Advocacy also seeks to invoke the attitudinal crusade of encouraging and challenging people to know their status and eliminate the myth surrounding screening.

Dr. Kludjeson explained that the project also seeks to galvanize a national effort to close gaps in the vaccination, prevention, detection, and treatment flow, with scale-up focused on community capacity-building, including through targeted testing strategies, and ensuring that people are offered support upon diagnosis, that treatment is available upon diagnosis, and that people on treatment are supported and monitored regularly.

Meanwhile, Dr. Mrs. Anita Owusu-Afriyie, Medical Officer, Oncology Unit, International Maritime Hospital (IMaH), has appealed to women to regularly undertake cervical cancer screening “as early diagnosis would help save a life... men should encourage their partners, wives, sisters, mothers, and friends to go for screening.”.

The IMaH Medical Officer explained that long-lasting infection with certain types of Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) is the main cause of cervical cancer.

She stressed that HPV is a common virus that is passed from one person to another during sex, adding that at least half of sexually active people will have HPV at some point in their lives, but few women will get cervical cancer.

Dr. Mrs. Owusu-Afriyie also advised women who intend to go for cervical cancer screening not to do it during menstruation, as the menstrual blood can affect the analysis.

She encouraged women who encounter any bleeding after sex or after menstrual periods, which is abnormal, to seek medical attention.

However, when one is undergoing treatment for cervical cancer, one should abstain from sexual intercourse or avoid unprotected sex because the treatment is done to kill the cancer cells in the cervix.