•January is Cervical Cancer Awareness Month and it an opportunity to highlight and raise awareness about cervical cancer
•Experts estimate that the disease can take up to 10 to 15 years to progress into invasive cancer thus a great opportunity for prevention
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The Ministry of Health plans to embark on an intensified cervical cancer advocacy and screening exercise this month in an effort to combat the disease.
January is Cervical Cancer Awareness Month and it provides an opportunity to highlight and raise awareness about cervical cancer.
Cervical cancer remains a major public health concern in Kenya and is the second most common cancer in women but the leading cause of cancer deaths.
Experts estimate that the disease can take up to 10 to 15 years to progress into invasive cancer thus a great opportunity for prevention through screening using various screening tests and subsequent treatment through available options.
According to the National Cancer Institute CEO Dr Alfred Karagu, cervical and breast cancers contribute to almost a quarter (23 per cent) of all cancer-related deaths in the country.
Karagu at a past function noted that science has shown a correlation between cervical cancer and certain conditions particularly HIV.
Information as per the national cancer registry shows high rates of cervical cancer among populations in the Nyanza and Western region as well as Nairobi.
The ministry launched the HPV vaccination campaign in October 2019 with a target to reach 800,000 girls with the jab within a period of one year with two doses of the vaccine, six months apart.
The ministry through the National Vaccines and Immunisation Programme introduced HPV vaccine into the routine immunisation schedule in an effort to reduce the burden of cervical cancer in the country.
The vaccine against the cancer-causing HPV targets 10-year-old girls administered in two doses six months apart, at about 9,000 public, private and faith-based facilities countrywide.
But with the onset of Covid-19, the national immunisation programme was affected due to either the severe health system constraints or physical distancing measures in place to mitigate the pandemic.
Currently, two out of every three persons diagnosed with cancer will die of the disease since 70 per cent of cases are diagnosed in advanced stages, when cure is impossible.
“Less than 25 per cent of facilities are able to provide services for screening, early diagnosis and treatment,” Karagu says.
“Two out of three persons diagnosed with cancer will die because 70 per cent of the cases are diagnosed late,” he adds.
Despite the high burden, only about 23 per cent of Kenyans have access to cancer management services.