The Sunday News
INSERT, scrap and smear. That is all it takes for a woman to get screened for cervical cancer. These simple steps can change and save your life.
For the past few years cervical cancer has been the talk of all health issues considering that many women were dying from the disease chiefly because they were not getting screened or were being screened rather late when the condition had spread.
Being a woman concerned about the disease, I had been procrastinating over the issue — to get screened or not. I also visualised mobilising a team of women from the office and get screened as a group but nothing really materialised.
However, I finally got screened for cervical cancer at a local laboratory in the city last week. It was a terrifying moment because of all the bloodcurdling versions of the screening process that I had heard of; I did not know what to expect.
The nurse gave simple instructions — lie on the bed, relax and raise your knees. The process is simple, a plastic disposable instrument known as a speculum is inserted into the organ, it is then opened a little wide and a screw mechanism holds it in place peeping in to the cervix.
The health worker then gently scraps cells in the cervix with a swab and smears them onto a slide for screening and the process is over. It takes just under five minutes and you are good to go. It is totally painless.
This is a completely different process from what I used to hear. A colleague once made me believe the process was so painful; one would need bed rest to recover from the pain. Another told me it was so painful you can hardly walk after the procedure.
These distracting versions made me think twice. This increased my anxiety about cancer screening such that it took years to finally do it. Many women have been discouraged from getting screened for fear of the unknown.
However, cancer screening is being encouraged as statistics of women dying from advanced cervical cancer are on the increase in Zimbabwe. Cervical cancer has been identified as the major contributor to cancer-related deaths in the country.
Statistics provided by the Zimbabwe Cancer Registry show that cancer-related deaths increased by 25,5 percent, with cervical cancer accounting for 13 percent of deaths recorded.
The recent statistics are for 2013 and they show that cancer-related deaths increased from 1 556 to 2 062.
Leading causes of deaths were cervical cancer with 13 percent. Prostate cancer accounts for nine percent, sarcoma (eight percent), primary liver cancer (eight percent), breast cancer (seven percent) and non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) related deaths stood at seven percent.
The goal of the screen-and-treat programme for cervical cancer in Zimbabwe is to reduce cervical cancer and related mortality with relatively few adverse events. The Ministry of Health and Child Care says early sexual debut is a contributor to cervical cancer in young girls.
As part of the disease’s prevention strategies the ministry embarked on a HPV vaccine programme to try and prevent young girls from acquiring cervical cancer.
The HPV vaccination programme is targeted at girls between eight and 13 years. However, it is currently restricted to pilot sites in Beitbridge and Masvingo with plans to roll it out to the rest of the country.
Health experts say HPV is responsible for 98 percent of all cervical cancers in Zimbabwe. The HPV vaccine is complemented by the Visual Inspection with Acetic Acid and Cerviography (Viac), a method of testing cervical cancer. Viac is a faster and more efficient method of testing for cervical cancer which involves taking pictures of the cervix. Diagnosis is instant and treatment is also prescribed immediately.
The Papanicolaou test (abbreviated as Pap test, known as Pap smear, cervical smear, or smear test) is a method of used to detect potentially pre-cancerous and cancerous processes in the opening of the uterus or womb. The test remains an effective, widely used method for early detection of pre-cancer and cervical cancer. It is, however, important that women undergo cervical cancer screening early so as to get treatment if need be. They should not be swayed by talk from the roadside which makes them resist screening.
