Dr. Chris Kpodar, who is also Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Solomon Investments Ghana Limited, has referred to a World Health Organisation (WHO) data which indicated that an estimated 604,237 women were diagnosed with cervical cancer globally, representing 6.5 percent of all female cancers in 2020.
The data, he said, indicates that 90 percent of them are in less-developed regions of the world, where access to prevention, screening and treatment services is severely limited.
According to the WHO data, cervical cancer is the most common cancer among women in 36 low and middle income countries, mainly in sub-Saharan Africa.
Speaking at a forum organised by the Communication and Development for Advocacy (CDA) Consult in Kumasi, Dr. Kpodar, a former United Nations Consultant for Africa and the Middle East disclosed that CDA Consult has joined global efforts to combat cervical cancer, which has now assumed a health crisis, impacting women and their families across the world, especially in low-resource settings, including Ghana.
Mr. Francis Ameyibor, Executive Director CDA Consult, speaking on the need for global and national action to combat cervical cancer, said CDA Consult is embarking on a Cervical Cancer Prevention Change Paradigm Advocacy campaign.
He noted that the CDA Consult Cervical Cancer Prevention Change Paradigm Advocacy campaign also seeks to champion free cervical cancer vaccination and scale up prevention, detection and treatment towards the elimination of cervical cancer in Ghana, anchored on responsive communication as a weapon for attitudinal change advocacy for mass voluntary vaccination and encouragement for a healthy lifestyle.
He said the CDA Consult Cervical Cancer Prevention Change Paradigm Advocacy campaign also seeks to achieve maximum impact by demystifying the myth surrounding cervical cancer vaccination, screening, and treatment.
Mr. Ameyibor suggested that screening and treatment programmes must be accessible and relevant to adolescents and young people, since they have distinct health-care, sexual and reproductive health and rights and educational, developmental and psychosocial needs.
Mr. Ameyibor stated that global efforts demonstrate that more women die from cervical cancer than during childbirth.
The CDA Consult Executive Director stated that global statistics show that the chances of dying from cervical cancer are equivalent to those of Ebola.
Mr. Ameyibor stated that a woman with cervical cancer is about twice as likely to die as a woman with breast cancer, and a woman living with HIV has a six fold higher risk of developing cervical cancer than her HIV-negative counterparts.
