Africa-Press – Botswana. First Lady Neo Masisi has urged all stakeholders to act in unity for the elimination of cervical cancer.
Speaking during a session with cervical cancer survivors in Gaborone on Friday, Ms Masisi said statistics revealed that ‘a woman dies of cervical cancer every two minutes around the world’ and that it was important that stakeholders assist to eliminate it.
The First Lady also noted that statistics revealed that cervical cancer was one of the leading causes of death in women in Sub-Saharan Africa.
She said 76 000 women died from the disease every year, hence she called for action across the region.
She emphasised the message of unity, action and the possibility of eliminating cervical cancer and saving the lives of women across the globe.
She highlighted that Africa led in the number of deaths, and that the Organisation of African First Ladies for Development (OAFLD), of which she was a member, sought to leverage their unique position to advocate for policies that make health services accessible and laws that boost women empowerment.
She added that they had within their strategy plan of 2019-2023 health as a priority, including the elimination of cervical cancer and were calling for countries to achieve the 90-70-90 targets.
She said it was a global call to action and provided a roadmap to eliminate cervical cancer and pledge commitment from different countries to achieve the target.
Ms Masisi urged various stakeholders and partners such as innovators to come up with and share technology to improve health outcomes in countries.
She further pleaded with the private sector to assist in funding research to support government to step up efforts to eliminate cervical cancer.
“To the training institutions, academia, you should capacitate medical personnel across the spectrum of care, ” she said.
For her part, the regional director for Africa, World Health Organisation (WHO) Dr Matshidiso Moeti said eliminating cervical cancer was doable and that bringing it to an end remained a priority for the WHO.
Dr Moeti called for sensitisation so that different African countries could take action for the elimination of cervical cancer.
She said elimination of cervical cancer was possible, adding that with the emergence of technology across the globe, Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine and cancer screening were being implemented.
She further pointed out that it was possible to prevent cervical cancer, with early screening and treatment.
Sharing the same sentiments, the founder of Graça Machel Trust, Ms Graça Machel urged African countries to commit and adopt to HPV vaccine in their immunisation programmes.
A cervical cancer survivor, Ms Karen Nakawala of Zambia, who is on a mission to convince girls across the world to get the HPV vaccine and women to get regular screening, said being diagnosed with cervical cancer was painful.
She said no woman should die of cervical cancer, especially that there were tools available to curb the disease.
Ms Nakawala called for equitable distribution and access to cervical cancer related health care services worldwide, saying it was key to driving the mission of saving lives and eliminating cervical cancer.
The session was aimed at fostering dialogue, advocacy and unity towards the elimination of cervical cancer ahead of the 73rd session of WHO regional committee.
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