2900 women screened for cervical cancer at Chipata General Hospital

2900 women screened for cervical cancer at Chipata General Hospital

Chipata, February 15,  2013, ZANIS —  About 2900 women have undergone cervical cancer screening at Chipata General Hospital in Eastern Province since January 2012 to February 2013.

Provincial Medical Officer Kennedy Malama says the response to the cancer screening by women in the area has been overwhelming .

He said a number of women have continued to seek screening at Chipata General Hospital and St Francis where the service is being offered.

ZANIS report  that the Provincial Medical Officer said this in Chipata during a briefing at his office, yesterday.

Dr. Malama said that out of this number 200 were found with cervical cancer and have been undergoing treatment.

He stated that the screening of cervical cancer will this year be rolled out to other district like Lundazi and Mambwe.

He disclosed that the Ministry of Health intends to scale up the screening of the disease even in males and will to this effect scale up to screening of prostate cancer.

He urged all females who are sexually active to get screened every two years so that the cancer can be detected early for treatment.

“The problem is that most people only go to hospital facilities when the cancer has reached advanced levels, making it difficult for treatment,” he said.

Dr Malama said some of the symptoms of cancer are lower abdominal pains and bleeding or pain after sexual intercourse.

Government had recently expressed concern that most women in Zambia only seek medical attention for cervical cancer when the disease is in its late stage.

According to one Gynecology and Obstetrics Isaiah Hansingo at the Livingstone General Hospital, this often results in unexpected deaths.

Dr Hansingo has since urged women to seek early cervical cancer screening services to detect the deadly but preventable disease.

He said that research indicated that delayed detection was the major cause of death.

He advised women to be wary of some of the risk factors such as infection with human papilloma virus, sexual intercourse from an early age, many pregnancies, and multiple sexual partners.

Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer of the female reproductive system, which accounts for six per cent of all cancers in women and is caused by the human papilloma virus (HPV).

And Dr Malama said the response towards Male Circumcision in the province has not been very well.

He stated that only 4,811 males went to MC in 2011 and noted the total of 12,065 were circumcised last year 2012.

Dr Malama said though the numbers of those seeking MC had increased, there was need for more sensitization programmes saying people need to appreciate the benefits of MC.