Cervical cancer vaults to WHO priority list

With cervical cancer cases rising across Sub-Saharan Africa, and 80 percent of women diagnosed too late to stop the cancer’s deadly spread, the World Health Organization (WHO) is recommending screening and vaccination programmes throughout the region. “WHO is going to strongly advocate with donors and decision-makers to list cervical cancer as a public health priority.because with a vaccine we can save lives by preventing cervical cancer.” said Jean Gabriel Wango, head of family health at WHO in Ouagadougou. The vaccine will help fight the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV), which if left untreated, can develop into cervical cancer. “There is little investment in this disease and many of our women are unaware of it.so they die in silence,” said Sita Kaboré, president of Kimi, an association that runs cervical cancer screening campaigns in Burkina Faso.

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