After oral cavity and breast cancer, cervical cancer is the third most common malignancy in women. In Pakistan, the incidence and mortality rates for cervical cancer are particularly high since screening, prevention, and vaccine efforts are rarely focused on this particular cancer. More than 70% of patients report having very advanced cancer stages, which has a significant fatality rate in our nation. According to the World Health Organization, 500,000 women will pass away from cervical cancer by the year 2030. It is anticipated that developing nations like Pakistan will account for more than 98 percent of these fatalities. 5 008 Pakistani women were diagnosed with cancer in 2020, according to GLOBOCAN statistics from the International Organization for Research on Cancer.
Regarding cervical cancer screening and prevention measures, Pakistan's government has no official healthcare strategy. Opportunistic screening, which primarily takes place in private practise in the absence of systematic screening, largely ignores disadvantaged women.
The human papilloma virus has more than 100 different varieties, some of which are linked to anal and genital malignancies. About 70% of cervical cancers and 90% of all anal tumours are caused by HPV Types 16 and 18.
How can we recognise early cervical changes?
In general, cervical screening is not advised until age 21. Cervical screening is recommended for women between the ages of 21 and 29 every three years. A pap smear is a very straightforward test in which the doctor uses a small device to visualise the cervix in the clinic and a plastic spatula to collect cell scrapings from the cervical wall. It's a painless process. It is advised that people between the ages of 30 and 65 get pap smears every three years or hrHPV DNA testing every five years. Every five years, co-testing for hrHPV and pap smear is also an option. After the age of 65, if prior screening tests were negative, no further testing is necessary.
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