PAHO Prepared to Help Caribbean Reduce High Cervical Cancer Rate
Washington, DC, December 11, 2003 (PAHO)—A PAHO-supported report presented to the Caribbean Caucus of Ministers said that well-organized programs, can save lives of many women in the Caribbean, a region that suffers one of the world's highest rates of cervical cancer.
"The Caribbean has the fourth highest cervical cancer incidence in the world, surpassed only by Central America, Melanesia and Eastern Africa," according to the report supported by the Pan American Health Organization's Regional Cervical Cancer Project.
"Most of the English- and Dutch-speaking Caribbean countries have estimated incidence rates (of cervical cancer) at least three times higher than the prevailing rates in North America," according the report.
And the situation is particularly bad in Haiti. Indeed, cervical cancer is the leading cause of female cancer death in Haiti. "At 94 deaths per 100,000 population, the estimated age-standardized incidence in Haiti is by far the highest in the world," the report said.
The report is a draft titled Strategic Plan for Cervical Cancer Prevention and Control in the Caribbean 2004-2007. It was prepared by the Caribbean Cervical Cancer Prevention and Control Project, supported by PAHO and the World Health Organization through the Caribbean Epidemiology Centre (CAREC).
Most of the resulting health costs, suffering and deaths resulting from cervical cancer in the Caribbean are avoidable, the draft study noted. It said that all Caribbean countries invest resources in screening for cervical cancer and in managing women with early and advanced disease.
With few notable exceptions, however, "these efforts have tended to be isolated and uncoordinated . . . (thus) cervical cancer remains the second leading cause of death in the English- and Dutch-speaking Caribbean."
Together in these countries annually, an estimate 1,260 women received a diagnosis of invasive cervical cancer and approximately 530 women die from the disease. "Roughly 70% of these cases are among young and especially middle-aged women in their most productive years, socially and economically. Most cases could have been prevented," according to the report.
Also, cervical cancer is intertwined with poverty in the Caribbean region. The draft report said that not only are risk factors more common in impoverished women, but women in lower socio-economic groups are also less likely to be screened. "The poverty cycle is perpetuated when young and middle-aged women die of cervical; cancer, disrupting the personal development of orphaned children."
An added problem is the high prevalence of HIV/AIDS in the Caribbean, where AIDS is the leading cause of death for females in the 15 to 44 year age group. "The HIV/AIDS epidemic represents a significant threat to efforts to reduce cervical cancer" in the region, according to the report.
The countries of the Caribbean, aware of this problem, have committed to cervical cancer prevention and control - and the draft report aims to support those countries in honoring their commitments. The draft plan calls on those countries to:
- Ensure the necessary conditions for implementing well-organized, national cervical cancer prevention and control programs.
- Re-direct budgetary resources that ensure and integrated, multi-sectoral approach to screening and follow-up of women in the target group.
- Once well-organized programs are implemented in the Caribbean countries, expenditures for cervical cancer will decline significantly and the valuable health and well-being of untold Caribbean women will be spared," the draft report said.
The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) was established in 1902 and is the world's oldest public health organization. PAHO works with all the countries of the Americas to improve the health and quality of life of its people. PAHO serves as the Regional Office for the Americas of the World Health Organization (WHO).
PAHO Member States today include all 35 countries in the Americas. France, the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland are Participating States. Portugal and Spain are Observer States. The U.S. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is an Associate Member.
To learn more: Caribbean Cervical Cancer Prevention and Control Project.
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