A 16-man team from the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation, on Monday visited the Transport and Harbours Department where 58 women were examined for cervical cancer using the visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA) method. This was in keeping with the Hospital’s announcement earlier in the month that in observance of Cervical Cancer Awareness Month, it would collaborate with the Ministry of Health (MoH) to host several outreach programmes in an effort to encourage women to get screened for cervical cancer.

Medex of the VIA Clinic at the GPHC, Lorlene Ramsundar, disclosed that the 58 women represented a 100% turn out at the organisation.
She revealed that upon examination, five women required treatment and as such they were treated using Cryotherapy.
CRYOTHERAPY
Cryotherapy destroys abnormal tissues on the cervix by freezing it; during this procedure, liquid carbon dioxide, which is very cold, circulates through a probe placed next to the abnormal tissue.
This freezes the tissue for two to three minutes and it may be allowed to thaw and then be re-frozen for another two to three minutes; a single-freeze treatment for five minutes may also be used.
On January 27, the team will host another outreach at the prisons and then head to Lifeline Ministries on January 28.
Recently, the medex had emphasised that getting screened can save women’s lives and noted that from 2009 to date, the VIA Clinic has detected numerous cervical cancer cases, most of which were successfully treated.
She highlighted that more and more women are recognising the importance of getting themselves tested, but stated that more education programmes on television and radio would be useful for women who may not know the importance of getting a VIA test done.