“Over 36 Million Nigerian Women Are At Risk For Cervical Cancer,”
Over 36 million women are at danger of having cervical cancer, according to Prof. Oliver Ezechi, Director of Research at the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR), Yaba, Lagos.
Cervical cancer is the second most frequent malignancy after breast cancer, according to a consultant obstetrician and gynecologist who spoke at a news conference in Lagos yesterday to launch a five-year effort to prevent the illness in Nigeria.
The initiative intends to reduce cervical cancer-related illnesses and fatalities in accordance with the worldwide campaign World Health Organization (WHO) began in 2020 to hasten the disease’s eradication as a public health issue by 2030.
“Over 36 million Nigerian girls and women under the age of 15 are at danger for having cervical cancer,” he said. There are 33 new instances of cervical cancer identified each day, and there are 22 daily fatalities from the illness, for a total of 12,000 cases diagnosed and 8,000 deaths annually.
Cervical cancer, also known as uterine cervix cancer, is the fourth most frequent disease in women worldwide, taking one life every two minutes, according to the World Health Organization.
In 36 nations, including Nigeria, it is one of the main reasons why women get cancer and pass away. With an expected 604,000 new cases and 342,000 fatalities in 2020, low- and middle-income countries accounted for more than 90% of both the new cases and the deaths.
According to the HPV professor, infections are the main cause of cervical cancer.
A tiny, non-enveloped DNA virus called HPV attacks cells in the skin or mucous membrane.
He pointed out that although Nigeria has created cervical cancer screening standards and programs, overall federation coverage is still low.
“HPV vaccine is only offered in private clinics,” he said. To meet the eradication goals, however, attempts are being undertaken to include the HPV vaccine into immunization programs. The whole nation must establish organized national programs for HPV vaccine, cervical cancer screening, and treatment, and the skills of the health professionals must be improved across all three pillars (HPV vaccination, cervical screening, and treatment).
The research project “Actions for Collaborative Community Engaged Strategies for HPV (ACCESS-HPV)” was developed in response to this situation in order to aid Nigeria’s national cancer prevention and control program in its efforts to join other countries in the world in eliminating cervical cancer by 2030.
