Dear HIFA colleagues,
I’m responding to Q1. 'How do people in your community or workplace generally perceive cervical cancer? Please describe the common concerns, beliefs, or attitudes you notice.'
Cervical Cancer is very little talked about openly, unlike other cancers, because there is still very little awareness about it.
Suspecting and detecting cervical cancer takes a very long time for women to seek care. In LMICs, there are several reasons for delay in seeking medical care:
- Very often, women don’t have access to reliable healthcare information to understand cervical cancer screening and the seriousness of early symptoms and signs (e.g., abnormal bleeding after menopause)
- Women are embarrassed to seek medical advice for early symptoms because it requires them to confide in a female health worker, who may not be easily available; thus, a local healer plays a prominent role and may provide misinformation if not involved in the community health education group.
- The implications of having been diagnosed with cervical cancer carry stigma in the community if there is no awareness about its treatment.
- There are many myths and misinformation about the early symptoms of cervical cancer and care, which delays appropriate, timely treatment.
- Even if women can seek medical advice at primary health care facilities, the health provider may not have updated evidence-based health care information or training to treat or refer timely to the appropriate speciality health facilities.
- Socioeconomic status, particularly in elderly women, plays a very important part in receiving timely care and rehabilitation.
- Women and men may not be aware of the benefits of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination in the prevention of cervical cancer, as various diseases are prevented with vaccines.
Best wishes
Dr. Meena Nathan Cherian, MBBS, MD (Anaesthesia)
(Former WHO Lead Emergency and Essential Surgical Care Program, Geneva, Switzerland).
Director, Global Health New Challenges: Geneva Foundation for Medical Education & Research, Switzerland. www.gfmer.ch/surgery/cancer.htm (NSA-WHO)
Senior Advisor Global Action International Society of Geriatric Oncology Permanent Committees - SIOG
Senior Advisor, International College of Surgeons-Global Affairs. https://icsglobal.org/ (NSA-WHO)
Adjunct Prof.The Chinese University of Hong Kong,Shenzhen,China. https://med.cuhk.edu.cn/en/teacher/371
WHO-HIFA Essential Health Services; mHEALTH-INNOVATE. www.hifa.org (NSA-WHO).
Geneva, Switzerland. +41 763837253(m); cherianm15@gmail.com
HIFA profile: Dr Meena Nathan Cherian was a professor of anaesthesiology from Christian Medical College Hospital, Vellore, India. She trained, worked, and taught in several countries, USA (Johns Hopkins Hospital), Southeast Asia and Africa. She worked at the World Health Organization Headquarters, Geneva, Switzerland, as the Emergency and Essential Surgical Care Program Lead where she created the ‘surgical care’ program resulting in the first World Health Assembly Resolution on ‘Emergency and Essential Surgical Care and Anaesthesia in the context of Universal Health Coverage’. Currently she works as the Director, Global Health New Challenges program, Geneva Foundation for Medical Education and Research, Geneva, Switzerland; Adjunct Prof. The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, China; Senior Advisor, Global Action, International Society of Geriatric Oncology, Switzerland; Member of the WHO-HIFA Working Group on Essential Health Services and COVID-19; and HIFA mHEALTH-INNOVATE Working Group. She is a member of the HIFA Steering Group. https://www.hifa.org/support/members/meena and Spotlight working group on Patient Safety and NCDs. cherianm15 AT gmail.com