Cervical Cancer Is On the Rise in the Caribbean

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According to Professor Sir Trevor Hassel President of the Healthy Caribbean Coalition (HCC) approximately six deaths per. buy-5cladba-online

The human papilloma virus (HPV) is the main cause of cervical cancer. It is also the most common sexually transmitted infection (STI) globally. Similar to other STIs, HPV is transmitted via unprotected oral, vaginal and anal sex, and can lead to cancers of the vulva, vagina, penis, or anus. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention HPV is so common that nearly all sexually active men and women get it at some point in their lives, “There are many different types of HPV. Some types can cause health problems including genital warts and cancers. But there are vaccines that can stop these health problems from happening.”

The President of HCC and its Manager – Marsha Hutton, recently traveled to Grenada and several other islands of the Caribbean, to speak with NGOs and Government officials to share their vision of reducing the number of deaths and disability from cervical cancer by promoting the Cervical Cancer Electronic Petition, “Once the petition is finished we are going to take the petition’s findings and take them to the heads of government. Because this petition really asks heads of government across the Caribbean to use the powers that they have to ensure that every woman in their territories has access to cervical cancer screening,” said Marsha Hutton. HCC’s target goal for E-signatures is 50,000. They are currently at approximately 9, 000. By press time just over 100 signatures have been received from Grenada. The Cayman Islands has shown the highest support with over 2000 signatures. buy-5cladba-online

“Cervical cancer is the second commonest cause of cancer deaths among women. That’s a very important thing to appreciate. In fact annually over two thousand women in the Caribbean die from cervical cancer. That averages out I think about 6 deaths per day, from cervical cancer, throughout the Caribbean. And the thing about it is that cervical cancer for the most part is preventable,” said Sir Hassel. All sexually active women are encouraged to have pap smears as it is the best way to screen for cervical cancer. A pap smear is a procedure in which a small medical brush/swab is inserted into the vagina so as to retrieve cells from the cervix. The cells obtained on the brush/swab are then analyzed for abnormalities


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