SRINAGAR: With only one to three per cent of women in India having undergone cervical cancer screening, health experts on Monday stressed the need for urgent expansion of screening and prevention programmes during a lecture organised at Government Medical College Srinagar.
The lecture on “India’s Preparedness for Cervical Cancer Elimination Program” was organised by the Department of Community Medicine, GMC Srinagar, and delivered by Dr Showket Hussain, Scientist-E at the Indian Council of Medical Research-National Institute of Cancer Prevention and Research (ICMR-NICPR), Noida.
Addressing faculty members, resident doctors and health professionals in a hybrid session, Dr Hussain said cervical cancer screening in India has remained largely opportunistic despite the disease being preventable and treatable if detected early.
He said Human Papillomavirus (HPV) infection remains the primary cause of cervical cancer and stressed that every married woman between the ages of 30 and 65 years should undergo screening.
“Primary HPV-DNA testing is now the backbone of cervical cancer screening globally,” he said while discussing various validated testing methods available for early detection.
Dr Hussain also spoke about the World Health Organization’s strategy for eliminating cervical cancer as a public health problem and outlined the WHO targets for low and middle-income countries by 2030. He explained the WHO’s seven recommended algorithms for screening and treatment of pre-cancerous cervical lesions.
The Principal and Dean of GMC Srinagar, who inaugurated the programme, referred to the WHO’s “70-30-10” roadmap for cervical cancer elimination and emphasised the importance of strengthening national screening programmes.
The lecture also highlighted that screening for cervical, oral and breast cancers has been placed on the priority list under national cancer control initiatives. Officials said the ICMR has recently invited expressions of interest for screening programmes in Jammu and Kashmir covering cervical, oral, breast and gastrointestinal cancers.
The programme was facilitated by ECHO India and coordinated by Dr S Muhammad Salim Khan, Professor and Head of the Department of Community Medicine at GMC Srinagar.
