Kerala should introduce human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccine as a public health measure to protect adolescent girls and young women from cervical cancer, R. Sankaranarayanan, former chief of cancer screening, WHO-International Agency for Research on Cancer, has said.
This should be possible once an India-made and affordable vaccine would be available in 2021, he added.
Cervical cancer is one of the preventable cancers and Kerala is already well-poised to be the first State in the country to eliminate cervical cancer. Incidence rate of cervical cancer has been dropping steadily in the State over the years, down to 6 or 7 per one lakh population. The WHO threshold for elimination is 4 per one lakh population, he pointed out.
Approved by DHS
Dr. Sankaranarayanan was delivering the keynote address at the launch of M-OncoEd, an oncology education app on mobile technology platform for the education of medical professionals, here on Thursday. M-OncoEd has been approved by the Directorate of Health Services for imparting oncology education to primary- care physicians in State Health Service, so that they are better equipped to do cancer screening, early detection and appropriate referrals at the community-level.
Three common cancers
The app has well-curated modules which focus on three common cancers, which are easily preventable and amenable to early detection, oral, breast and cervical cancers.
Cancer care costs have been escalating and eating into the health budgets of most nations, primarily because the focus was mostly on treating cancer in advanced stages, but with dismal results. Better focus on preventable cancers and early detection and management would improve cure rates as well as the quality of life of cancer survivors, Dr. Sankaranarayanan pointed out
Director of Health Services R.L. Saritha formally released M-OncoEd app.
M-OncoEd is a joint project of Snehita Women’s Health Foundation, a city-based NGO and RTI International, U.S., with various stakeholders, including the Regional Cancer Centre and the State Health Service as collaborators. The project is supported by grant from National Institutes of Health, U.S.
