Preventing cervical cancer on Montserrat
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| Published on Tuesday, November 20, 2007 |
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By Cathy Buffonge
BRADES, Montserrat: “Younger women are doing it, older women need to do it too … if you are between 45 and 65, come have a Pap smear”, proclaims a lively jingle on Radio Montserrat, while posters and TV promos give the same message. What is this all about?
A Pap smear is a test that looks at the cells of the cervix or mouth of the womb (uterus). The doctor or nurse takes a few cells from the cervix and places them on a slide, which is sent to a laboratory to be tested. The laboratory will pick up any abnormal cells, including pre-cancerous cells – cells that have not yet turned into cancer. This is good news because the woman can be treated before these cells turn into cancer, thus a Pap smear can actually prevent cervical cancer before it happens.
April last year saw the launch of an expanded Cervical Cancer Prevention and Care Programme on Montserrat, which resulted in increased numbers of women coming for Pap smears, especially those in the younger age groups. However Montserrat’s STI/HIV/AIDS Coordinator, Anjella Skerritt, explains that middle aged and older women are lagging behind, perhaps because they are unfamiliar with the procedure and have never had it done.
Because of this situation, she says, the Ministry of Health is now specifically targeting middle aged and older women, especially those between the ages of 45 and 65, who are actually at greater risk of developing cervical cancer. Besides the jingle and other promotional material, women’s groups and church groups are being sensitized in order to encourage greater numbers of older women to come for this test.
Skerritt explains that cervical cancer is actually a sexually transmitted condition, because it is caused by the human papilloma virus (HPV), which is spread through sexual activity. There are more than a hundred different types of human papilloma virus, some of which are more harmful than others, and they are very easily caught through skin to skin contact in the genital area. It could be many years before pre-cancerous lesions start to appear, and that is why all women who have ever been sexually active are encouraged to join the Pap smear programme.
Although vaccines against HPV have been researched, it is unlikely that they will become widespread in our region in the near future, taking into account the many different types of HPV as well as the probable expense involved.
Women are usually advised to have a Pap smear annually for the first three years, and after that, once everything is normal, to continue having smears every three years unless instructed otherwise. HIV positive women should have a Pap smear more often, as they are at greater risk.
Women in Montserrat have a choice of having their Pap smear done at one of the Government clinics or at their doctor’s office, and if any abnormalities are found, further tests will be done.
Like other Caribbean member countries, Montserrat’s cervical cancer programme has received technical support from the Caribbean Epidemiology Centre (CAREC), as part of the Caribbean Cervical Prevention and Control Project. CAREC has twenty-one member countries and is administered by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), which serves as the Regional Office for the Americas of the World Health Organization.
As more women, not only in Montserrat but throughout the Caribbean, start to have regular Pap smears, it is to be hoped that we will see a reduction in cervical cancer and a more healthy female population in the region. | | | | Reads : 263 | | | |
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