Dr. Barnes said every year, 366 persons are diagnosed with cervical cancer, which is likely to take away the lives of the victims mostly women between the ages of 15 and 44 years. “This is the reality: the more advanced the stage, the less the chances of surviving,” said Dr. Barnes. “Therefore, all most of the patients, who have had cervical cancer carried the virus,” Dr. Barnes said. The HPV, she said is a virus that is sexually transmitted and in women, it takes 10 or more years before it turns to cervical cancer. According to Dr. Barnes, almost 95 percent of Liberian women have never had any form of screening for cervical cancer or any form of cancer; therefore in order to reduce the death rate of cervical cancer, health authorities need to focus on purchasing equipment for cancer screening to save more lives.

Source: Daily Observer February 07, 2017 01:12 UTC