World Cancer Day: Three Get Referral For Pap, VIA

Following events marking this year’s World Cancer Day (WCD) commemoration last Thursday, three women have been referred to various hospitals for further diagnosis to determine their cancer status.
Disclosing this in an exclusive interview, the State President of Medical Women’s Association of Nigeria (MWAN), Rivers State, Dr Vetty Agala, said two of the women had abnormal Papanicolou (Pap) smear results and were referred to the Rivers State University Teaching Hospital (RSUTH) for further investigations.
The other person was positive for Visual Inspection with Acetic Acid (VIA) and was also referred to Orogbum Health Centre for treatment for precancerous lesions, also called Thermal Ablation (TA).
TA is one of the ways a lesion discovered during screening, but has not yet developed into a cervical cancer, can be treated to prevent it from progressing to a cancer.
It would be recalled that as part of events marking the 2021 WCD in Rivers State, the State Chapter of the  MWAN embarked on massive awareness  campaign on various electronic and social media platforms.
The Association had earlier flagged off screening for breast and cervical cancer at their “Every Woman’s Centre” in Marine Base Estate, where routine screening is still ongoing, even after the WCD.
As at the time of filing this report, Dr Agala said, about 85 women had benefitted from VIA, 52 women  from Pap smear, and 86 had had clinical breast examinations.
Also, 280 students from two secondary schools had health education on cervical cancer, personal hygiene, HIV Self-testing, and Gender based violence.
She stated that “in line with the World Cancer Day 2021 theme: ‘I am, I will’, we encourage everyone to take action to reduce their risk of getting cancer by being screened and adopting healthy lifestyles”.

By:  Sogbeba Dokubo