Principal Nursing Officer at Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Rose Aduful has hinted that statistics available indicates that every two minutes a woman dies of cervical cancer worldwide.
Speaking on Nkwa Hia, a health talk show on Adom TV on Monday with host Afia Amankwaah Tamakloe, the nurse revealed that the disease accounts for about 60 per cent of cancers cases reported at Korle Bu alone.
She said Korle Bu recorded about 1,500 death caused by cervical cancer last year alone.
‘’Cervical cancer develops in the cervix, the low narrow neck of the uterus that opens into the vagina,’’ she said.
On the causes of cervical cancer, Rose Aduful said it is caused by a virus called Human Papillomavirus (HPV) found in men who transmit it to their female counterpart during sexual intercourse and sometimes through intimate genital skin to skin contract.
‘’Every sexually active woman risks catching the virus and risk of infection starts from the first sexual encounter and would continue through life when contracted,’’ she added.
Rose Aduful also added that women who engage multiple sexual partners are at a higher risk of getting cervical cancer.
She says even though the disease is not curable, it can be prevented through fidelity and regular screening.
The nurse is therefore appealing to all women to go for regular screening and reduce their risk of contracting the disease.
“Women who are sexually active must visit their hospitals for screening because there are vaccines which can protect them from the disease,” she said.
