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Joined: Oct 1999
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Marty Offline OP
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Today the Belize Cancer Society in collaboration with Kim Simplis Barrow in her role as the Special Envoy for Women and Children launched its Pap Smear Campaign.

It's held under the theme: "Take a stand against cervical cancer: prevention works- Get your PAP test today." Organizers say it is a test that Belizean Women should make a priority, because although cervical cancer is preventable and curable, it still remains at the top of the list of cancers affecting Belizeans�.

Dr. Tracey Nicholas- OBGYN KHMH
"We have 48 cases per one hundred thousand women each year and we have 16 deaths per one hundred thousand each year. In a population that we have say 300,000 people that's a lot of deaths that we are having per se, that's almost 50 women that we lose per year and that's too much. One is too much."

Kim Simplis Barrow: Special Envoy for Women & Children
"The World Health Organization estimates that globally cervical is responsible for some 88 thousand deaths yearly and that over 500,000 cases of cervical cancer are reported each year. cervical cancer is the second most common cancer afflicting women worldwide. Here in Belize are you aware that cervical cancer is the most common cancer in women?"

While cervical cancer is the most common cancer among women in Belize, it is a curable and preventable disease if detected early. Public education coupled with increased accessibility of health services are critical to prevent its spread

Kim Simplis Barrow: Special Envoy for Women & Children
"Regular screening of women and education to women on safe sex could help early identification and diagnosis of the disease and so I am encouraging all women to let today be the day that add pop smears to their to do list. Not at the bottom but at a place of importance, at the top."

Dr. Peter Allen: CEO- Ministry of Health
"We must continue to improve our healthcare delivery systems to make them much friendlier to those who use them. We should ensure that community perspectives and needs are incorporated into program design and of course we must heightened the awareness of cervical cancer and the effective prevention strategies that exists."

And one such strategy is a PAP test, which as Laura Longsworth- President of the Belize Cancer Society explained is a rather quick and simple process:

Laura Longsworth- President Belize Cancer Society
"This is a speculum that is used, inserted into the vagina and its very gentle lubricated and everything and it's just goes in very quickly because we have skilled health professionals. We open it and this is the kit that they use. This kit through with using that speculum, they open the kit and they go in using spatula to take out the cells off the cervix and using the brush to just role the sample on the slide. Those things are discarded, all of that discarded and it is seal. It's spayed so nothing can move and its seal with the patients' name and this goes to the lab along with your form. Then the lab will ten return it to us and then we will call in patient and give them their results and the necessary referral."

Dr. Tracey Nicholas- OBGYN KHMH
"The colposcopy is something that's going to help to alleviate what is happening. When you done a pap smear if it is unfortunately abnormal for you then we need to continue the follow up care of that and that is what you are going to get done at Karl Heusner Hospital. It's a microscopic evaluation of the cervix. We do biopsies, we can actually see how extensive the abnormality is and then we can actually treat if it's a precursor of cervical cancer will get you at that stage. This is what the Pap smear is all about. We want to get you before you actually become survival cancer."

This week's campaign has set a target of 500 women, and after that the findings will be published. The data will inform future awareness and testing drives:

Laura Longsworth- President Belize Cancer Society
"We will put together a report stating how many people we tested and certainly what the results are. The results are very important because this is a report that will go into the national system and certainly will be used to increase the attention to the issue of cervical cancer prevention and control. Within the ministry they have a cervical cancer survey system and so this report will feed into that system and help them to determine whether they need to increase their attention or what are the areas of problem."

The Pap Smear Campaign will run until Friday February 4th and will also involve two outreach clinics at The Collet Research Center and Samuel Haynes Institute. If you'd like more information on the Pap Smear Campaign you can call 223-0922.

Channel 7


Joined: Oct 1999
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Marty Offline OP
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PAP SMEAR CAMPAIGN TARGETS BELIZE CITY WOMEN

This morning the Office of the Special Envoy for Women and Children and the Belize Cancer Society launched the Belize City Pap Smear Campaign. The campaign is being held under the theme "Take a stand against cervical cancer, prevention works; get your pap test today". Dalila Ical has more on the campaign.

Dalila Ical - Reporter
In Belize cervical cancer is the most common illness affecting women. Special Envoy for Women and Children Kim Simplis Barrow says it is very important to continue the work on creating awareness that cervical cancer is a curable disease if detected early and can also be prevented. Key to this is Pap smears.

Kim Simplis Barrow - Special Envoy for Women and Children
"It is so very important that we continue to work on creating awareness that cervical cancer is a curable disease if detected early and that it can also be a preventable disease. Regular screening of women and education of women on safe sex could help early identification and diagnosis of the disease and so I am encouraging women to let today be the day that they add Pap smears to their to do list. Not at the bottom but at the place of importance, at the top."

The Belize Cancer Society promotes the importance of the test year round. President of the Belize Cancer Society, Laura Longsworth says doctors are seriously concerned about the situation in Belize.

Laura Longsworth - President, Belize Cancer Society
"When we talk to our colleagues at the Dangriga cancer center who do the actual treatment they are saddened at the number of women who are presenting advanced stages of cervical cancer that means that we lose those women to what we call to premature death. They die early in years leaving their families and their children when it is totally unnecessary."

Forty-eight cases per hundred thousand women are diagnosed annually in Belize and sixteen deaths per hundred thousand are recorded each year. Taking the Pap smear will assist greatly in reducing these numbers.

Laura Longsworth - President, Belize Cancer Society
"Just quickly, it takes about a minute or so to just go into the vagina, collects some samples from the cervix, put it on a slide and send it to the lab. At the lab the cyto technician will look at the cells and determine whether there is infection that needs to be treated or whether there are cell changes that need urgent attention."

As part of the campaign this week, the KHMH is providing support through pharmaceuticals so women can receive immediate treatment. The hospital is also providing colposcopy services which recently became available there and was launched this morning. It was made available through the combined initiative of the CARICOM Secretariat, the Ministry of Health and the KHMH Authority. If a Pap smear shows abnormalities women can now get follow up care at the KHMH. Doctor Tracey Nicholas is the gynecologist who is working at the hospital.

Dr. Tracey Nicholas - OBGYN, KHMH
"It will also be used if you have an inflamed cervix, if you have genital warts, if there is some abnormal vaginal bleeding. There are investigations we can do at the time using the colposcopy. It's a microscopic evaluation of the cervix. We do biopsies. We can actually see how extensive the abnormality is and we can actually treat if it is a precursor of cervical cancer. We get you at that stage. What the Pap smear is all about. We want to get you before you actually become cervical cancer. Cancer of the cervix is preventable. We should not lose our women to cervical cancer."

Women will also receive counseling and preparation for the colposcopy. The service was only available in private centers and are expensive but for the campaign this week it will be provided free of cost. Reporting for Love News, I am Dalila Ical.

In her address, Special Envoy for Women and Children Kim Simplis Barrow stated worldwide statistics show that cervical cancer is the second most common cancer globally with around eighty-eight thousand women losing their lives yearly. Altogether, there are over five hundred thousand cases reported annually. The campaign will conclude on Friday February fourth. The Belize Cancer Society will also do outreach in the Collette Division and Samuel Haynes Resource Center. Women who are unable to make the test this week can call in to the Belize Cancer Society for an appointment on Tuesday of next week. This week's campaign coincides with world cancer day which is on Friday February fourth. It will be celebrated under the theme "Today's children, tomorrow's world - cancer prevention, curing, services and community caring".

LOVEFM



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