–Health Ministry pushes vaccination and screening to eliminate cervical cancer
MINISTER of Health Dr. Frank Anthony has said that nearly one in five women who have been tested under the national health voucher programme’s HPV testing system have returned positive, which has prompted authorities to intensify the push to prevent cervical cancer.
Dr. Anthony made this known while addressing the recent signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the ministry and private healthcare service providers.
He said approximately 19 per cent of the more than 20,000 women screened over the past two years tested positive for HPV, a key risk factor for cervical cancer.
“That is quite high, and if left untreated, over time these things can convert to become cervical cancer, and that is what we are trying to prevent,” he said.
Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer affecting women in Guyana, and the minister said the country is now pursuing a strategy aimed not just at managing the disease but eliminating it altogether.
This approach, he noted, combines early detection through testing with widespread vaccination to stop infections before they lead to cancer.
“We strongly believe that this is a cancer that can be eliminated,” Dr. Anthony said.
He added, “If we take the right measures in the next couple of years, we don’t have to talk about cervical cancer anymore.”
Against this backdrop, the minister said that as part of that strategy, Guyana has upgraded its national immunisation programme from the quadrivalent HPV vaccine to the nine-valent vaccine, which targets nine of the most prevalent cancer-causing strains of the virus.
The vaccine, which he said costs about US$360 per dose on the private market, is being offered free of charge through the public health system.
The vaccination programme currently targets boys and girls aged nine to 15, as well as women aged 16 to 45, a move the minister said reflects evidence showing HPV’s role in multiple cancers affecting both women and men.
“We want to target both boys and girls, because we also see cancers such as penile cancer that can be caused by HPV,” the minister disclosed.
“It makes sense that we protect everyone,” he affirmed.
Further to this, along with vaccination, the ministry is seeking to significantly expand HPV testing, with a target of 40,000 women screened by the end of the year.
