Battling the Twin Challenge of HIV and Cervical Cancer

A community health worker spreads the message of screening for cervical cancer along with HIV. Credit: Joyce Chimbi/IPSBy Joyce ChimbiNairobi, Dec 6 2022 (IPS) Damaris Anyango* was recently discharged from Kenyatta National Hospital, battling the twin challenge of cervical cancer and HIV. She is 50 years old and was diagnosed with HIV nearly ten years ago. Despite the heightened risk of developing cervical cancer due to the underlying HIV-positive condition, her first cervical cancer screening was undertaken three years ago. “It has been a big challenge dealing with HIV and cervical cancer. When I was told that my HIV test was positive, many years ago, I thought my life was over. I started giving away my possessions, but I was counselled and accepted my status. Only to receive a second blow,” she says from her home in Homabay County. Research by the World Health Organization (WHO) paints a female face of HIV. Women and girls in sub-Saharan Africa accounted for two in every three new HIV infections in 2021, entering a cohort of women at significant risk of developing cervical cancer. “Women living with HIV are six times more likely to develop cervical cancer compared to women without HIV. Cervical cancer is caused by the human papillomavirus and is the most common sexually transmitted infection,” says Oscar Raymond Omondi, a cervical cancer expert and researcher across the East African region. He says that even though most human papillomavirus (HPV) infection clears up...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tags: Africa Editors' Choice Featured Gender Headlines Health TerraViva United Nations Women's Health IPS UN Bureau IPS UN Bureau Report Kenya Source Type: news