Wednesday 15 January 2014

Cervical Cancer kills 9,659 Nigerian women annually – SFH

                                      
The Managing Director of Society for Family Health, Mr. Bright Ekweremadu, has put the number of Nigerian women killed annually by Cancer of the Cervix at 9,659.
According to him, cervical cancer is caused by Human Papilloma Virus which is transmitted through sexual intercourse.
He stated this on Wednesday in Abuja during the formal presentation of Cryotherapy Machine for the detection of cancer by SFH management to Saffron Hospital Limited, Nyanya.
At the event, the Chairman, Board of Trustees of SFH, Prof. Shima Gyoh, explained that although cervical cancer was transmitted through sexual intercourse, it usually manifested in women between 40 years and above.


Ekweremadu stated that most women get a HPV infection at least once in 50 years, adding however that only a few women developed cervical cancer .
He said, “Cervical Cancer is the second most frequent cancer among women in Nigeria following breast cancer, with about 9,659 women dying of cervical cancer annually. About 24.8 percent of women in the general population harbour the HPV, the virus known to cause cervical cancer in women and genital warts in both men and women.
“Cervical cancer is the uncontrolled growth and spread of abnormal cells in a woman’s cervix (the narrow opening of the womb into the vagina). Cervical cancer is the most common female cancer in developing countries, with approximately 500,000 new cases and 250,000 deaths occurring each year. Around the world, a woman dies of cervical cancer every two minutes.”

No comments:

Post a Comment