A new study by the Lancet Group of Labs and Consumer Options among women in major Kenyan cities has revealed that almost all of them (97 per cent) do not know that a virus causes cervical cancer. A new study by the Lancet Group of Labs and Consumer Options among women in major Kenyan cities has revealed that almost all of them (97 per cent) do not know that a virus causes cervical cancer. The women were sampled in Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu for the study, which had 327 respondents aged between 18 and 60. According to the International Agency for Research on Cancer, the data gathering arm of World Health Organisation (WHO), cancer claimed the lives of 15,039 Kenyan women in 2012 — 2,451 of these died of cervical cancer and another 4,802 were suffering from this type of cancer. Whereas in the majority of women the immune system clears away HPV naturally, for a small percentage, the virus persists in the cervix, leading to cellular changes in the cervical cells that progresses over five to 15 years to become cancerous, and eventually manifesting as cervical cancer.

Source: Daily Nation February 13, 2017 18:03 UTC