Dear HIFA colleagues,
I’m responding to Q5: What sources of information about cervical cancer do people in your setting rely on most?
Overall longevity has increased globally, and it is estimated that by 2030, 1 in 6 people globally will be 60 years and older.
This era (from 2020 to 2030) is designated as the ‘UN Decade of Healthy Ageing’, which seeks to work on improving older people's lives by reducing health inequities.
Screening for cervical cancer is not mandatory after 65 years of age in most countries, which results in delayed detection and care and worse outcomes (compared to younger women).
This neglect of older women’s health, particularly in LMICs, contributes to the growing burden of disease and socioeconomic determinants of health.
Hence, it is even more timely that we ensure that older women are part of cancer research, that supportive health systems include screening beyond 65 years of age, that they receive easy-to-understand, reliable healthcare information translated to meet local needs, and that primary healthcare facilities have trained health providers to detect, communicate, treat, refer, and follow up.
Even though women in LMICs have the highest rates of cervical cancer incidence and mortality, most often women, particularly older women, trust healthcare information by word of mouth or radio, television, relatives, friends, and local healers. Seeking advice from healthcare facilities is not their first choice for several reasons, such as socioeconomic status, distance and time to access care, stigma, or the attitude of healthcare providers (dismissive of frailty and old age for tolerating treatment).
Therefore, scientific evidence needs to be easy to understand, translated to the local context, and easily available at the point of care and in communities.
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