Commonwealth states commit to banishing cervical cancer
Kenya rolled out a HPV vaccination drive of girls aged 10 to 14 in 2019.
What you need to know:
- During the meeting, cancer survivors were given the unique opportunity to share their journeys with spouses and partners of Commonwealth heads of governments and Foreign ministers at a luncheon.
- The participants also resolved to appeal to the international community and stakeholders to allocate financial and human resources to achieve cervical cancer elimination goals by 2030.
Commonwealth countries have agreed to roll out initiatives aimed at eliminating cervical cancer.
This emerged during a Commonwealth heads of government meeting held in Kigali, Rwanda, last weekend. The more than 54 countries agreed to join hands to eliminate cervical cancer that continues to torment women.
Member states proposed the formation of a coalition to provide support and patronage to national cervical cancer plans to facilitate progress towards elimination.
The global meeting also agreed to raise awareness and mobilise action towards cervical cancer elimination goals by 2030, in alignment with the World Health Organisation’s Cervical Cancer Initiative.
The participants also resolved to appeal to the international community and stakeholders in Commonwealth countries to allocate financial and human resources to cervical cancer elimination to help achieve the goals by 2030.
Survivors speak up
During the meeting, cancer survivors were given the unique opportunity to share their journeys with spouses and partners of Commonwealth heads of governments and Foreign ministers at a luncheon.
Rwanda’s First Lady Jeannette Kagame and husband of Commonwealth secretary-general Richard Mawhinney hosted the luncheon that brought together first ladies, cancer survivors, international health organisations and members of the International Taskforce on Cervical Cancer Elimination in the Commonwealth.
Ms Kagame underscored the urgency of the initiation of a cervical cancer global elimination effort.
“Cervical cancer is a preventable biological calamity, a socio-economic threat and an entire civilization’s moral trial that condemns nine out of 10 diagnosed women in low- and middle-income nations to a premature passing. Regardless of the grimness of the situation, the facts are that there is hope, reason, resources and solutions,” she said.
Karen Nakawala, a cancer survivor, while appealing for urgent action to tame the scourge, spoke about its devastating impact. She said cancer interferes with one’s life in all forms.
“As a woman, it impacts your sexuality, it impacts your mental health, it impacts your physical health, so it impacts you in more ways than you can imagine, and I think that is why I get annoyed when I hear a woman has died of cervical cancer, a cancer that we can eliminate because we have the tools, and we have the know-how. So why are we still letting our sisters die?” she asked.
Leveraging social capital
Dr Princess Nothemba Simelela, the WHO assistant director-general for family, women, children and adolescents, urged the Commonwealth spouses to continue leveraging their social capital in advocating expanded access to cervical cancer prevention and treatment, and to share experiences to achieve their common elimination goals.
The meeting also witnessed the launch of the Commonwealth version of documentary ‘Conquering Cancer’, which highlights cervical cancer elimination initiatives in various Commonwealth countries.
The documentary was widely welcomed, and delegates agreed to promote it in their own countries, to heighten cervical cancer awareness.
The Lancet Oncology/Commonwealth Secretariat Commission report on International Development Aid and Global Oncology was also launched. The report will take stock of the landscape of cancer research and cancer care for the 2.5 billion people that make up the Commonwealth and will inform policies to improve outcomes for patients with cancer within and beyond the Commonwealth.
The Commonwealth represents only 30 per cent of the world's population but accounts for 40 per cent of global cervical cancer incidence and 43 per cent of cervical cancer mortality.
According to the WHO, cervical cancer is the fourth most frequent cancer in women with an estimated 604,000 new cases in 2020 worldwide.
Of the estimated 342,000 deaths from cervical cancer in 2020, about 90 per cent occurred in low- and middle-income countries.
Women living with HIV are six times more likely to develop cervical cancer than women without HIV, and about five percent of all cervical cancer cases are attributable to HIV. In all world regions, the contribution of HIV to cervical cancer falls disproportionately on younger women.
Most cervical cancer cases (more than 95 per cent) are due to the human papillomavirus (HPV), which is the most common viral infection of the reproductive tract. Most sexually active women and men will be infected at some point in their lives, and some may be repeatedly infected. More than 90 per cent of the infected populations eventually clear the infection.
The Global strategy towards eliminating cervical cancer as a public health problem, adopted by the World Health Assembly in 2020, recommends a comprehensive approach to cervical cancer prevention and control, including interventions across the life course.
