adminHerald Reporter
Women in Zimbabwe are dying more from cervical cancer than from HIV and Aids due to lack of information and access to health services, a local gynaecologist says. Harare-based gynaecologist Dr Tsitsi Magure told participants at a seminar on cervical cancer that the disease is the only cancer that is completely curable, but many women with the illness only seek medical help when the disease has already reached an incurable stage.
“Lack of awareness about cervical cancer and poor access to health delivery services is killing many women in Zimbabwe,” she said.
“Cervical cancer can be completely cured if it is treated early. But lack of awareness has seen cervical cancer cases rising by 30 percent among women in the country.
“Limited availability of screening services and prohibitive costs have worsened the situation.”
She expressed concern that most patients seek help when it is too late due to lack of awareness.
Unlike other forms of cancer, she said, cervical cancer does not have physical symptoms and women suffering from it are, therefore, often unaware until their cervixes become cancerous.
Oncologists say it takes about three to 10 years for an infected cervix cell to become cancerous.
Online Reporter