Gov’t to focus on reducing cervical cancer – to launch HPV vaccination programme  

From the hefty $73.2 billion budgeted for the health sector, Minister of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony, M.P. said the government will be set aside funds to tackle the issue of cervical cancer.

Government will this year launch a massive Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccination programme to prevent the disease.

“One of the programmes that we will be rolling out in a very comprehensive way, is to make sure that we can reduce the incidence of cervical cancer in Guyana…

It is a preventable disease; it is a disease that if young people get an injection that it can be prevented,” the minister said.

During his presentation to the National Assembly on Thursday, Dr. Anthony said the programme will see girls from nine to 14 years being vaccinated against the disease.

He said there was a previous attempt to start the programme by Government Member of Parliament, Dr. Bheri Ramsarran during his tenure as health minister, however, it did not receive support from the APNU+AFC Coalition.

“They campaigned against it and what happened? It resulted in a lot of young women not getting their vaccines…

But I hope that this time around, because this year we are going to start a massive programme to give HPV vaccination to girls between nine and 14 years of age, and I hope we can enlist their support,” Dr. Anthony said.

Minister Anthony said cervical cancer is the second most prevalent cancer among women. As such, the ministry will ensure females 13 years and older can have access to screening.

He said this will allow for more visual inspection, with acetic acid (VIA) clinics, pap smears and the introduction of HPV tests, as well as access to treatment for the disease.

“And at the tertiary stage, we are going to create more access to ensure that people who need surgery can get surgery, those who need chemotherapy can get that and those who need radiation therapy would be able to access that as well,” the minister said.

Meanwhile, Minister Anthony said the government will be introducing prostate-specific antigen (PSA) tests, to enable screening for prostate cancer.

“One of the things that we’ll be introducing with the resource that has been allocated in this year’s budget is PSAs, because for the first time we now have the money to be able to buy that machine and we will be doing PSAs in the public sector,” Minister Anthony related.

He said he hopes men would come forward to be screened, to ensure prostate cancer is also prevented.