HIV-positive women are living longer, but are now dying of cervical cancer. In Zimbabwe, cervical cancer is now the most common cancer among women, particularly those living with HIV. Activists are urging the government to step up efforts to prevent deaths related to the disease, accusing it of paying lip service to the problem.
According to the Zimbabwe National Cancer Registry, cervical cancer affects about 30 percent of women in the country. Cervical cancer is caused by the sexually transmitted human papilloma virus (HPV). Although condoms are said to lower the risk of getting HPV, they do not prevent the risk of acquiring this virus completely.
About 1,900 women are diagnosed with the disease every year in Zimbabwe and 1,300 die, according to the UN World Health Organization. Efforts poorly resourced In October last year, the government registered a cervical cancer vaccine for the prevention of HPV and reported that by early this year the new vaccine would be available for women in the country. However, those plans have been scuppered by financial constraints.
A number of public health institutions in Zimbabwe, including Parirenyatwa Hospital, the country's largest referral hospital, were supported by the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) to run free cervical cancer tests known as visual inspection with ascetic acid and cervicography. While this method is faster and cheaper than the traditional pap smears, the machines at Parirenyatwa Hospital are not enough to service the large number of women coming from around the country for the service. Women have been forced to wait for up to a month to get screened. In addition, some women who had been screened and found to have cervical cancer have been waiting for up to three months for treatment.
One woman at the hospital, who asked not to be identified,said that after waiting for three months to begin her treatment, she was told the radio therapy machines had broken down and had to wait again until the machines were repaired.
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