Cancer prevention is cheaper than cure-Experts

A Consultant Clinical & Radiation Oncologist at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Dr Omolola Salako has said that cervical cancer can be prevented with less than N30,000, saying, early detection through screening and treatment of pre-cancerous lesions is the best way of guardding against the disease.

Dr Salako, who is also the Executive Director of Sebeccly Cancer Care and Support Centre, said this recently during an interactive session organised by the NGO in collaboration with the Health Writers’ Association of Nigeria (HEWAN).

At the session tagged: ‘Meet Health Writers’, about 30 women and girls including female HEWAN members were screened for breast and cervical cancers as part of the NGO’s 1K Cervix Campaign to screen 1000 women and girls for breast and cervical cancers.

Salako said, though cervical cancer can be cheaply prevented, “Sadly, women don’t come early for cancer screening and diagnosis. They come at stages 2 and 4; and they can bleed to death. In the clinic, our women are dropping dead. Our women need to come out for screening, it makes no sense for any woman to come down with cervical cancer.

“The rate of cervical cancer is reducing but we still have over 14,000 women with it and 9000 women die from it, which is more than half of the number of people who have it every year.”

Salako described cervical cancer as the most common female cancer among women in Nigeria after breast cancer, caused by the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) transmitted through sex, and it could cause an infection in the cervix (the neck of the womb).

Accoding to her, it would take 10 to 15 years for the cells of the cervix to grow abnormal and become cancerous.

“This window period is when screening is done to detect any abnormality in the cervix and prevent cervical cancer.

“It’s actually cheaper to prevent cancer because the cost of surgery is high. Pap smear costs N7000, HPV vaccine is N7000 and that is cheaper compared to someone who has developed cancer.”

HPV vaccines can prevent most genital warts and most cases of cervical cancer. Protection from HPV vaccine is expected to be long-lasting. But vaccinated women still need cervical cancer screening because the vaccine does not protect against all HPV types that cause cervical cancer. While, A Pap smear (also called a Pap test) is a screening procedure for cervical cancer. It tests for the presence of precancerous or cancerous cells on the cervix, the opening of the uterus.

Salako said, “Early screening is cheaper than when you pay more than N300,000 for surgery and you can’t guarantee total cure even with the treatment, there’s a risk with recurrence. Wouldn’t it have been better if people cultivate the culture of going early for screening? People sell their houses, cars, property to treat cancer. So, early screening is advised.”

Also speaking, Dr Kehinde Okunade, a Consultant Obstetrician & Gynaecologist at LUTH and Project Director, Cervical Cancer Programme at the NGO said, “if you’ve ever had sex, you are at risk of HPV. Those at higher risk of HPV are those with more than one partner.”

To reduce the risk however, he said, one has to limit the number of sex partner, choose a partner who has few partners, avoid smoking, choose a healthy diet, use condom correctly and consistently, get the girl-child between 9-26 years vaccinated with HPV vaccine.

Okunade said, despite the prevalence of the disease in the country, there is evidence that utilisation of screening for prevention of the disease is poor in Nigeria.

“I am calling on women of reproductive age to observe regular cervical cancer screening because any woman who is sexually active is at risk. .