READER LETTER | SA joins world in advancing HPV vaccination

Immunisation prevents cervical cancer

On Sunday, the country joined the global community to mark four years of global movement known as Cervical Cancer Elimination Day of Action. The movement's aim is to eliminate cervical cancer as a public health challenge.

The health department is confident that the country is making a positive progress with efforts to prevent cervical cancer through various interventions, including expanded screening and testing services. The country has one of the highest rates of cervical cancer among women and faces a significant burden, with an estimated 13,800 new cases annually. 

According to the World Health Organisation, cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer in women globally with around 660,000 new cases and around 350,000 deaths in 2022.

In SA, cervical cancer is the second most common cause of cancer in women. but it can be cured if diagnosed at an early stage and treated promptly.

This Cervical Cancer Elimination Day of Action campaign is commemorated annually on November 17 since the year when 194 countries, including SA, resolved in 2020 to eliminate a cancer for the first time and later WHO launched the global strategy to eliminate cervical cancer.

The government has introduced a number of interventions to prevent cervical cancer among women, and these include the launch of Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination campaign in 2014.

* Foster Mohale is spokesperson for the department of health