Increased cervical cancer risk for HIV women
Cervical cancer - prevention is better than cure
SEPTEMBER is Cervical Cancer Awareness Month and an opportunity for the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the largest non-profit HIV/AIDS health provider globally, to raise awareness of cervical cancer and the heightened risk for those living with HIV.
South Africa continues to be encumbered with the highest levels of HIV infection in the world, with 7.2 million people presently living with HIV/AIDS. Sixty percent of those living with HIV/AIDS are women.
One in 39 South African women is diagnosed with cervical cancer, making it the second most prevalent cancer in women according to the Cancer Association of South Africa.
Cervical cancer occurs when the cells in the cervix become abnormal and result in tumour formation.
Identification and removal of pre-cancerous cells of the cervix can render this disease virtually preventable.
Seventy percent of all cervical cancers can be accounted to Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) which is a very common virus transmitted through skin-to-skin contact and body fluids and affect 7 out of 10 people.
AHF Country Programme Director Hilary Thulare said women infected with HPV are also more at risk of acquiring HIV.
‘Primary prevention for contracting HPV is condom use, delaying sexual debut, reducing one’s number of sexual partners, to stop smoking or rather to never start and to vaccinate girls between the age of 9 and 13 years.
‘There are over 170 strains of HPV, 40 of which can be sexually transmitted and two of which are high risk for cervical cancer.
‘Women living with HIV are more at risk of contracting HPV, due to their compromised immune system, and are more at risk of HPV progressing into cancer.’
AHF recommends all HIV positive women from the age of 18 years undergo regular pap smears.
Should symptoms of this non-hereditary cancer present, it can include heavy periods, continuous vaginal discharge, abnormal vaginal bleeding between cycles or with sexual intercourse.
Thulare urges all women to have a Pap Smear this month, irrespective of their HIV status in order to detect cervical cancer early and improve health outcomes.
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