Swaziland / eSwatini has the highest rate of cervical
cancer in the world, a new report reveals.
The cancer affects the neck of the womb in women. The
top 20 countries in
the list reported from Global Cancer Observatory, which is owned by the
International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), are
in Africa.
Swaziland has a rate of 75.3 per 100,000 people in a mathematical
measurement based on age. Second was Malawi with 72.9.
There are a number of causes of cervical cancer and
these can include diet, nutrition, smoking tobacco and the physical activity a
woman takes. Early sexual experience and a relatively high number of sexual
partners increase the risk and severity of infection and may be seen as
indirect causes of cervical cancer, the reported stated.
According to the World
Health Organization (WHO), cervical cancer is the fourth most frequent cancer
in women in the world with an estimated 570,000 new cases in 2018. Approximately
90 percent of deaths from cervical cancer occurred in low- and middle-income
countries.
WHO stated, ‘The high mortality rate from cervical cancer globally could
be reduced through a comprehensive approach that includes prevention, early
diagnosis, effective screening and treatment programmes. There are currently
vaccines that protect against common cancer-causing types of human papilloma
virus and can significantly reduce the risk of cervical cancer.’
According
to WHO data there were 380 new cases of cervical cancer and 238 deaths reported
in Swaziland in 2018. Cervical cancer topped the list of cancers in the
kingdom. It amounted to 36.1 percent of all cancer deaths in Swaziland.
Women in Swaziland are particularly vulnerable because the public
health service is in meltdown as the government, which is not elected but
handpicked by absolute monarch King Mswati III, has run the economy into the
ground.
In July 2019, it was reported cancer patients and other
seriously ill people in were
being denied life-saving treatment because the government had not paid its
bills to hospitals.
At least E66 million (US$4.6 million) was owed through
the government-funded Phalala Fund that pays for Swazi people to travel to
neighbouring South Africa for treatment. Some of the unpaid bills dated back to
2013.
See also
Swaziland
cancer patients refused treatment because Govt. has not paid hospital bills
Nurses
angry as Swaziland Govt ignores health crisis
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