Cervical cancer vaccine trials for 2009
Feb 06, 2007
GIRLS will soon get protection against cervical cancer, one of the leading causes of cancer deaths in Uganda.
By Irene Nabusoba
GIRLS will soon get protection against cervical cancer, one of the leading causes of cancer deaths in Uganda.
The Programme for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH), a non-profit corporation, was awarded a grant to facilitate the introduction of the human papillomavirus three-dose vaccine in June last year.
At a workshop on cervical cancer vaccine introduction at Sheraton Hotel recently, Vivian Tsu, the senior programme manager, said trials could start late 2009. Dr. Edith Nakku of the STD and Venereal Diseases Control Clinic, says cervical cancer is caused by a virus which lodges in the cervix and makes the cells there grow abnormally.
It is transmitted during sex with a carrier (more often a non-circumcised man. But rarely do sexually active women go for regular PAP smears tests to detect any early traces of the virus in their bodies, yet if detected early, it can be cured.
One of this year’s key messages on World Cancer Day was for the public to learn facts about vaccines that can prevent certain forms of cancer.
Tsu says the vaccine is effective when got before one gets sexually active. PATH project will therefore target girls aged between 10-12 years. “Women are immediately at risk as soon as they start sexual activities. In Uganda, the age of consent is 18 years but we suppose 10-12 is the average age of sexual debut,†Tsu said.
Every year, 470,000 women around the world are diagnosed with cervical cancer and 230,000, mostly in the developing world, die, according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer in France.
In Uganda, about 44 cases are reported in every 100,000 women annually.
PATH is conducting clinical and operations research to analyse various socio-cultural barriers that may impede acceptance of the vaccine, ways it can be delivered to the adolescents, the cost implications and possible integration in routine vaccination services.
Gulu, Soroti, Masaka, Mbarara and Kampala have been selected for the research to start in March and end in November this year.
The minister of health, Dr. Stephen Malinga, applauded the development. In his speech read by Dr Lawrence Kaggwa, the Director Planning in the Ministry of Health, he said it was wonderful that for the first time we are establishing the cause of cervical cancer and its prevention. He asked the public to embrace the vaccine.
GIRLS will soon get protection against cervical cancer, one of the leading causes of cancer deaths in Uganda.
The Programme for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH), a non-profit corporation, was awarded a grant to facilitate the introduction of the human papillomavirus three-dose vaccine in June last year.
At a workshop on cervical cancer vaccine introduction at Sheraton Hotel recently, Vivian Tsu, the senior programme manager, said trials could start late 2009. Dr. Edith Nakku of the STD and Venereal Diseases Control Clinic, says cervical cancer is caused by a virus which lodges in the cervix and makes the cells there grow abnormally.
It is transmitted during sex with a carrier (more often a non-circumcised man. But rarely do sexually active women go for regular PAP smears tests to detect any early traces of the virus in their bodies, yet if detected early, it can be cured.
One of this year’s key messages on World Cancer Day was for the public to learn facts about vaccines that can prevent certain forms of cancer.
Tsu says the vaccine is effective when got before one gets sexually active. PATH project will therefore target girls aged between 10-12 years. “Women are immediately at risk as soon as they start sexual activities. In Uganda, the age of consent is 18 years but we suppose 10-12 is the average age of sexual debut,†Tsu said.
Every year, 470,000 women around the world are diagnosed with cervical cancer and 230,000, mostly in the developing world, die, according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer in France.
In Uganda, about 44 cases are reported in every 100,000 women annually.
PATH is conducting clinical and operations research to analyse various socio-cultural barriers that may impede acceptance of the vaccine, ways it can be delivered to the adolescents, the cost implications and possible integration in routine vaccination services.
Gulu, Soroti, Masaka, Mbarara and Kampala have been selected for the research to start in March and end in November this year.
The minister of health, Dr. Stephen Malinga, applauded the development. In his speech read by Dr Lawrence Kaggwa, the Director Planning in the Ministry of Health, he said it was wonderful that for the first time we are establishing the cause of cervical cancer and its prevention. He asked the public to embrace the vaccine.