Africa-Press – Lesotho. The Ministry of Health (MoH) joined the World Health Assembly (WHA), World Health Organization (WHO) and the rest of the world in launching the global strategy
for elimination of cervical cancer as a public health problem. Speaking at the launch on Tuesday Dr. Mphu Ramatlapeng said she is proud that Lesotho is
a signature to the elimination strategy of cervical cancer. “Lesotho, Botswana, South Africa (SA) and Rwanda are the only African countries that felt the need
to put their signatures and be the sponsors of this elimination strategy,” she added. The Minister of Health Hon. Motlatsi Maqelepo said the Global cervical cancer
elimination strategy provides a roadmap, towards 90-70-90 targets for 2030. He added that by 2030, it is anticipated that 90% of girls will be fully vaccinated with the HPV vaccine by age 15 and 70% of women screened with a
high-performance test by 35 and 45 years of age. He further said 90% of women identified with cervical disease will receive treatment and 90% of women with
pre-cancer be treated while 90% of women with invasive cancer cases will be managed. Maqelepo said cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer among women globally, with an estimated
570,000 new cases and 311,000 deaths worldwide. He said it ranks as the second most common cause of cancer death among women aged 15 to 44 years globally. He
indicated that in Lesotho, cervical cancer accounts for about 44% of all cancer cases. He said according to 2018 data, the incidence of cervical cancer in
Lesotho is 52.1 per 100,000 women population and a mortality rate of 39.1. “Projections indicate that unless we urgently scale up services, the burden of cervical cancer will increase to almost 460,000 deaths by 2040
globally”. He said lower-income countries will have the greatest relative increase in the annual number of cases in the period, exacerbating the current
disparity. “Today, nearly 90% of deaths already occur in low and middle-income countries,” he said. He noted that a global effort to eliminate cervical cancer is in alignment with
the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which lay out ambitious targets for improving human health and well-being worldwide. Maqelepo further said HIV
and cervical cancer are closely inter-linked since cervical cancer is an AIDSdefiningillness and the mostcommon cancer among women living with HIV. He said despite the gains in
access to life-saving medication and prolonged life expectancy in the countries worst hit by the HIV epidemic, cervical cancer remains a challenge, therefore, to
sustain and maximize these gains, comprehensive, people centered care across the life course is critical to secure healthy lives for women and young girls.
The Health Minister stated that to achieve elimination in the shortest period of time and with maximum impact, intensive HPV vaccination and screening and treatment of precancerous lesions must be
pursued in combination. Maqelepo said his ministry will be integrating HPV vaccination into routine immunization program to ensure maximum coverage and sustainability and the vaccination program is expected to commence
in 2021. A cancer survivor ‘Mabulara Tsunyane encouraged women not to hesitate to test for cervical cancer as it is a deadly disease. Tsunyane said she was diagnosed with cancer in November 2018
when she was 50 years old and it was on stage 3B. She said after moving around Lesotho hospitals, she was referred abroad for treatment. “I was then referred
to India for treatment and I went through chemotherapy for 6 weeks and radiation for 28 days,” she said. She added that the chemotherapy went successfully and she was eventually healed. Tsunyane emphasized that had she not discovered her condition on time, it would have killed her.
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