VRA Hospital sets up free cervical cancer screening unit

Aboadze (WR),– The Volta River Authority (VRA) Hospital at Aboadze in the Shama District of the Western Region has set up a cervical cancer screening unit to offer free cervical cancer education and screening to the general public.

The initiative formed part of the hospital’s cervical cancer awareness month projects aimed at encouraging more people to get screened for the disease.

Mrs Cynthia Acromond, Team Lead, told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that a team of health personnel would be available to provide further details on risk factors, preventive strategies, and any other relevant information about the disease to patrons.

The month of January is acknowledged Worldwide as Cervical Cancer Awareness Month.

This year’s awareness was on the theme “Get Screened! Get Vaccinated”.

Mrs Acromond explained that 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 vagina.

In 2020 alone, she disclosed that an estimated 604,000 women were diagnosed with cervical cancer globally with about 342,000 deaths.

She said over 90 percent of cervical cancer cases occurred in low to middle-income countries including Ghana.

According to her, more than 3,000 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer in Ghana, out of which over 2,000 die annually.

Mrs Acromond said the World Health Organization (WHO) had predicted that 5,000 new cases of cervical cancer and 3,361 cervical cancer deaths would occur annually in Ghana by the year 2025.

This, she said was regrettable because cervical cancer, unlike many other cancers could easily be prevented and treated if detected early.

Mrs Acromond indicated that cervical cancer was caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV) which is sexually transmitted.

She added that cervical cancer was most frequently diagnosed in women between the ages of 35 and 44 with the average age at diagnosis being 50 though it rarely developed in women younger than twenty years.

“Many older women do not realize that the risk of developing cervical cancer is still present as they age. More than 20 percent of cases of cervical cancer are found in women over 65″, she said.

Source: Ghana News Agency