Women Urged By Medical Expert to go For Regular Cervical Cancer Screening

She made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Awka.

According to her, about 20 per cent of women who go for cervical cancer screening in Anambra do so on referral level, as no one comes forward voluntarily for the screening, which is not good enough.

She said that cervical cancer could be prevented through regular screening to identify abnormal changes in the cells of the cervix at an early stage.

She added that “there is a high rate of ignorance among women within the age bracket of 25 to 50 years, who are supposed to be the beneficiaries of such medical care.

“The fear of knowing they are positive also reduces the idea of conducting the test, but it is safer to know one’s status than living in ignorance.

“There is a vaccine to prevent the disease but women need to visit the hospital to gain information on how to live right and take care of their body to avoid untimely death.”

Onwudiwe said that women who accessed medical services were usually the ones referred for screening, as women don’t go for test on their own.

She, therefore, advised women not to wait for a doctor to refer them before doing cancer test, saying they should take their lives in their hands by doing medical check-ups regularly.

The unit head, who said that the health service in the centre was underused, urged faith-based organisations, non-profit organisations and government agencies to double their efforts toward enlightening women on the need to go for screening.

She said that having multiple sex partners could lead to an ailment that may metamorphose into cervical cancer disease in women “and this valuable information would be made known to women during awareness programmes.”

Cervical cancer is a type of cancer that occurs in the cells of the cervix which is the lower part of the uterus that connects to the vagina.