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With these new tools in hand, we are more hopeful than ever that cervical cancer cases will soon
decrease, especially in our African countries. I congratulate our conference participants on a successful
meeting and hope that everyone makes great progress!
World Health Organization Uganda Country Office
Dr. Joachim Saweka, WHO Country Representative, Uganda
The latest statistics from WHO tell a harsh story: in Uganda, cervical cancer has by far the highest
estimated incidence and mortality of any cancer in women: 48 per 100,000 and 35 per 100,000,
respectively. In fact, this is the highest mortality for any cancer for men or women in this country.
HPV vaccines have great potential to prevent deaths, but there are challenges to delivering the vaccines
to the target population, since this group is older than the population normally targeted for routine
childhood immunizations.
In addition to introducing vaccinations, countries must increase access of women to screening and early
treatment. Cervical cancer prevention includes the areas of reproductive and sexual health, cancer, and
immunization, so collaboration among these departments is essential to ensure efficient and effective
programs.
Finally, the HPV vaccines must be made affordable to developing countries, where they can have the
most impact. Together, African countries can negotiate prices that will allow us to establish sustainable
vaccination programs.
Association of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Uganda
Dr. Daniel Murokora, President, AOGU
Clinicians play a pivotal role in cervical cancer prevention, not only in their care of patients but also in
their interactions with colleagues and community leaders. We need to further encourage the training of
nurses, midwives, and other health workers—as well as doctors—in visual inspection as a screening
method, because the demand for screening and treatment of precancerous lesions is far beyond the
available capacity in our countries.
Our ability to provide radiotherapy and other tertiary care is also severely limited, and we need to lobby
for improvements in these programs as well as in palliative care, especially until the day when HPV
vaccinations begin having a measurable effect on the number of cases of invasive cancer.
Our goals should include encouraging comprehensive cervical cancer prevention, such as advising our
adult women patients to take their daughters or granddaughters for HPV vaccination when available.
A goal for all the African countries attending this meeting is to put in place official strategic plans for
comprehensive cervical cancer prevention. In Uganda we now have the Strategic Plan for Cervical
Cancer Prevention and Control, but it is not funded directly by government. Funding constraints at all
levels are a major problem, so clinicians must work with community leaders to lobby for this support.
Only when all stakeholders assent to the overwhelming need for a strategic plan and the funds to
implement it will we see a significant decrease in the numbers of women dying from this preventable
disease.
Report of an African Regional Meeting on Cervical Cancer: September 2010 5