By JOWIT SALUSEKI –
MILLIONS of women and families face a devastating diagnosis that could be prevented by measures such as the vaccination against human papillomavirus (HPV) – a major cause of cervical cancer and cervical screening to detect and treat any changes before they become cancerous.
Cervical cancer is a type of cancer that occurs in the cells of the cervix — the lower part of the uterus that connects to the woman’s private parts.
Every year, 54 countries of the Commonwealth carry both some of the highest cervical cancer rates in the world at close to 80 per 100,000 women and some of the lowest rate less than 10 per 100,000 women.
According to statistics published in the Global Cancer Observatory, the Commonwealth reported 216,440 new cervical cancer cases – about 36 per cent of the global caseload – and 133,817 deaths – about 39 per cent of the global mortality – in 2020.
At the same time, 94 per cent of cervical cancer cases are preventable.
It is against this backdrop that, the Commonwealth Secretariat and the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) have launched a new taskforce to step up efforts towards preventing and treating cervical cancer.
The ‘International Taskforce on Cervical Cancer Elimination in the Commonwealth’ aims to encourage and facilitate cooperation between countries.
One of the strengths of the new collaboration, Secretary-General Patricia Scotland said, is that its members are drawn from around the Commonwealth, ensuring that “perspective from regions across the Commonwealth is captured”.
Zambia’s Karen Nakawala is among 10 who have been selected on the task force to steer Commonwealth towards cervical cancer elimination.
Ms Nakawala is the founder and Executive Director of Teal Sisters Foundation Zambia.
She is also a communication specialist and a radio and television presenter.
She was diagnosed with cervical cancer in June 2019 and underwent therapy from July to September, and later started a health movement on Facebook, focusing on the sensitisation of cervical cancer and the importance of screening.
She said: “As a cervical cancer patient, I appreciate that this taskforce is including the important voice of women living with cancer in shaping policy recommendations for our common quest of elimination of cervical cancer in the Commonwealth.”
In Kenya the taskforce member is Miriam Mutebi.
Dr Mutebi is a breast surgical oncologist and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Surgery at the Aga Khan University Hospital in Nairobi, Kenya.
She is the Vice-President for East Africa of the African Organisation for Research and Training in Cancer, the treasurer for the Kenya Society of Hematology and Oncology and she sits on the Board of Directors of the Union for International Cancer Control.
Nigeria’s Isaac Adewole is the taskforce member in the West African nation.
Dr Adewole is a gynae-oncologist and a professor of obstetrics and gynaecology at the College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Nigeria.
He is also the immediate past Minister of Health, Nigeria, and a former president of Africa Organisation for Research and Training in Cancer.
In Belize, Laura Longsworth is the taskforce member.
Ms Longsworth is an award-winning nurse, a founding member and President of the Belize Cancer Society and the Chairperson of the Disciplinary Committee for the Nurses and Midwives Council of Belize.
In 2020, she completed a six-year term as the Chairperson of the National AIDs Commission.
In the Asian nation of India, Neerja Bhatla is the taskforce member .
Dr Bhatla is a Professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi.
She has led research on cervical cancer prevention in low resource situations in collaboration with the International Agency for Research on Cancer and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
She is also the Chairperson at the Gynaecologic Oncology Committee with the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics.
In Australia, Marion Savillle is the member of the task force on cervical cancer elimination.
Dr Saville is a pathologist and the Executive Director of VCS Foundation Ltd – an organisation focussed on implementing, supporting, monitoring, and managing population health programmes, including cancer screening and vaccination.
She recently chaired the working group to review Australia’s guidelines for the management of screen-detected abnormalities in the National Cervical Screening Programme.
In Malaysia, Dr Ling Woo a gynaecological oncologist at the University of Malaysia is the member of the taskforce.
She helped to build ‘Program ROSE’, which, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, is helping communities to harness digital technology to support screening and assist women who need follow-up to navigate through, what can be, a complex health system.
Her initiative is already helping to increase screening coverage rates in Malaysia.
Other members are from United Kingdom and Canada.
The taskforce’s first actions include guiding the Secretariat in developing an action plan with key milestones up to 2030, and shaping messages that will inform discussions about cancer prevention and treatment at the next Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Rwanda.
Princess Nothemba Simelela, Assistant Director-General for strategic programmatic priorities at the World Health Organisation (WHO) expressed delight at the composition of the taskforce.
She said: “If we imagine a world two decades from now, where young girls read about cervical cancer in the history books that would be an incredible achievement and that is possible.”
