Cervical Cancer Prevention
Cervical cancer is a highly preventable disease when access to screening and treatment are available. Unfortunately, it remains a major threat to women in the developing world due to inadequate public health service provision and the high prevalence of risk factors, including early initiation of sexual activity, high fertility rates, and lack of screening services. In response to alarmingly high cervical cancer mortality rates in Guatemala, WINGS founded the Cervical Cancer Prevention Program in 2001. With a focus on serving Guatemalan women disproportionately impacted by cervical cancer—the poor, rural and indigenous—the Program provides health education, life-saving screening services, as well as follow-up treatment when necessary. To date, WINGS has administered more than 36,000 cervical cancer screening tests at mobile clinics and continues to reach an average of 3,500 women annually.
To guarantee maximum participation and community buy-in, WINGS’ Cervical Cancer Program Coordinators, in conjunction with local government and grassroots partners, conduct informal pre-clinic educational seminars, or charlas. At each charla, women are provided with basic information regarding cervical cancer including risk factors, disease progression, available treatments, and the importance of regular screening. In addition, WINGS pairs all screening clinics with family planning outreach. At each clinic, a WINGS Family Planning Educator delivers a talk on reproductive risk and family planning and provides referrals for family planning methods.
Since 2006, WINGS has used the low-cost Visual Inspection of the Cervix with Acetic Acid/Cryotherapy (VIA/Cryo) technique. VIA/Cryo allows WINGS’ staff to screen and, when precancerous lesions are detected, to treat women with cryotherapy during the same visit. This technique reduces time and expense on the part of patients, who often travel several hours and forego a day’s wages to attend WINGS’ clinics. Same-day treatment also saves lives, because many women who receive positive diagnoses through other programs and are referred for later follow-up treatment do not access that treatment because of time constraints or lack of financial resources. When cryotherapy is not sufficient, WINGS subsidizes all necessary care for women, whether at a private clinic or at Guatemala’s National Cancer Institute.