Dr Promise Sefogah, General Secretary, the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Ghana, has expressed worry about how the country is increasingly losing many young women to cervical cancer.
Dr Sefogah said out of the 30 million population, about 10 million women, 15 years and above were at risk of developing cervical cancer.
“Every year, we diagnose nearly 3,000 cases and out of this, almost 1,700 people die from the disease.”
Dr Sefogah told the Ghana News Agency in an interview that most of the cases were diagnosed at late stages, where very little could be done to save lives.
Cervical Cancer is the fourth commonest cancer among women globally.
It is the second commonest cancer in Ghana and the first killer of women due to its high mortality rate.
The disease is caused by the Human Papilloma (HP) Virus, which affects the cervix of the female reproductive system.
The human papilloma virus is caused through unprotected sex, where the virus stays in the cervix for 10 to 15 years without symptoms.
Affected women may experience abnormal vaginal bleeding and bleeding after sex, offensive vaginal discharge, back pain and weight loss when the disease has gotten to the last stage.
Dr Sefogah, who is also a Consultant Obstetrician Gynaecologist, SHAPE HEALTHCARE Specialist Medical Centre, refuted claims that some family planning methods were the cause of cervical cancer.
He said: “For the record, Intrauterine Devices (IUD) do not cause cervical cancer, rather it is one of the effective ways of preventing unwanted pregnancy.”
IUD, he explained, did not provide a barrier protection so, if someone had an IUD and went ahead to have unprotected sex with multiple partners, they were likely to get exposed to the human papillomavirus.
The Gynaecologist said getting a Pap smear screening and vaccination would save many women from the disease.
He said: “The good thing about Cervical Cancer is that it can be prevented through vaccination. When we screen, we can detect activities of the virus and then interventions are put in place.”
“For every woman, it is important to do pap smear screening every year. When you screen and you are negative then we can recommend that you take the vaccine. Women need to be encouraged to get screened and vaccinated to save their lives,” he added.
Dr Sefogah said despite availability of an effective vaccine that could prevent cervical cancer, financial barriers to accessing the vaccines had remained a challenge, adding that many of the women had abandoned vaccination due to the cost involved.
He called on the Government to help do away with the financial barriers to make the vaccines accessible and make it a routine vaccination package in Ghana.
Dr. Hilda Mantebea Boye, President Pediatric Society of Ghana, said it was important for children to be vaccinated before they became sexually active.
“For children, we encourage them to be vaccinated against the human papillomavirus so, from the age of nine years, they get the shots that they need to protect them, bringing down drastically their risk of infection.”
Dr Boye, who doubles as Maternal and Child Health advocate and a member of the Medical Women Association of Ghana, noted that despite the huge death toll among women, not much noise had been made about the situation.
“It is for this reason that we are embarking on advocacy through teaching and training across the country to sensitise people about the disease.
“We are also doing free screening for women in collaboration with selected hospitals, including Lester Ghana and sensitisation at schools and markets to educate young girls and our mothers.”
