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PESHAWAR, Apr 11 (APP):Health experts have suggested adoption of a multi-pronged approach with focus on three aspects of increasing awareness, improving access to vaccination and adequate treatment for prevention of cervical cancer spread among women.
“The fight against cervical cancer requires collective action at every level from raising awareness to improving education to expanding access to vaccine and other health care services,” they added.
These views were expressed during a session titled as `Think Now, Act Now, Cervical Cancer Awareness Session’ .
The session was organized by Jhpiego, a global health organisation, with the objective of raising awareness on cervical cancer and upcoming launch of HPV (Human Papillomavirus) Vaccine in Pakistan for prevention from this fatal disease.
The panellist included Dr. Raul Rico Bonifacio, Team Lead WHO EPI Pakistan, Dr. Mariyum Sarfaraz, Associate Professor Health Services Academy and Public Health Professional, Dr. Aminah Khan, Country Director Jhpiego and Craig Beyerinck, Senior Programme Manager GAVI Pakistan.
Kicking off the discussion, Dr. Raul Rico mentioned high risk of cervical cancer in developing countries due to lack of awareness, limited access to vaccines, service and treatment programme.
In developed countries, he continued, screening and treatment programmes have been introduced which helped in creating awareness among masses about threats from cervical cancer and measures for its prevention.
In order to contain spread of cervical cancer in developing countries, Dr. Raul suggested for adopting a multipronged approach with focus on three aspects including increasing awareness, improve access to vaccination and adequate treatment.
In Pakistan, apart from introducing vaccination for prevention of cervical cancer, there is also need of focusing on screening.
A single approach of merely immunization cannot address the problem and we also need to make arrangements for screening and treatment, he emphasized.
Speaking on needs in incorporating contents in health curriculum on cervical cancer and HPV vaccine, Dr. Mariyum Sarfraz of Health Services Academy said there is a gap in terms of curriculum not being adequately equipping the medical students, nurses, doctors with the knowledge about sources of this cancer, prevention measures and when screening should be done.
Knowledge among medical fraternity is low and awareness is also less among the general population who don’t know that they are vulnerable to a type of cancer which is easily preventable through vaccination and can be treatment at early stages diagnosis.
Dr. Mariyum also pointed lack of screening of target women of 35 years age by hospitals and gynea departments. There should be awareness material displayed in hospitals about importance of screening about cervical cancer.
The focus of educating health professionals about cervical cancer should not only confined to pre-service staff but also in-service practioners, she recommended.
She also suggested for efforts to demystify cultural myths and misconceptions around causes of cervical cancer and HPV vaccine.
Country Director Jhpiego, Dr. Aminah Khan said cervical cancer caused by HPV (Human Papillomavirus) is a serious health challenge in Pakistan, ranking as third most frequent cancer among women claiming around 20 lives on every day.
The most important point to mention here that is cervical cancer is preventable through HPV vaccine.
Dr. Amina said Pakistan is fully committed to HPV vaccine introduction in 2025 by integrating it in national immunization programme that will mark a significant step in elimination of this serious health threat.
Highlighting the role of Jhpiego in prevention of cervical cancer, Dr. Amina said the global health organization played a critical role in 2020 in developing in Pakistan’s HPV vaccination introduction roadmap.
The HPV vaccination introduction roadmap was chalked out by conducting landscape analysis, financial assessments and stakeholders engagement to prepare policy and planning.
The landscape analysis comprised of national and global literature review. There was 69 key informant interviews across five provinces of Pakistan. We have thematic analysis using WHO’s new vaccine framework.
We assessed HPV vaccine introduction alongside cervical cancer screening and treatment scale up. National level consultations were held followed by dissemination of findings and then the stakeholders defined next steps.
This roadmap that we developed laid the groundwork for effective HPV vaccine introduction in Pakistan and it also ensured alignment with the global cervical cancer elimination goals.
We have technical working groups established at national and provincial levels to guide vaccine introduction.
We are also playing a key role in raising awareness because simply making vaccines available is not enough as people need to understand why it is important to vaccinate young girls.
For effective awareness raising we design a communication strategy by gathering insights through knowledge attitude and behavioural studies which are conducted across all the provinces. We are also researching caregivers perceptions and community barriers to develop culturally relevant messages for different areas.
Taking part in the discussion, Craig Beyerinck, Senior Programme Manager GAVI Pakistan apprised participants that GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance is playing a crucial role in supporting the introduction and sustainability of HPV vaccine in Pakistan.
The global organization aims to protect millions of adolescent girls from cervical cancer, he added.