This project will provide free cervical cancer screening in the largest and poorest region of Ethiopia. Cervical cancer is the leading cause of cancer mortality among Ethiopian women over the age of 30. Records show that 7600 Ethiopian women are diagnosed annually with cervical cancer and of these, 6000 die of the disease each year. Cervical cancer screening has been shown as the most effective way to decrease cancer mortality among all women.
Cervical cancer affects Ethiopia's most vulnerable women; poor, rural, HIV+ women and women with disabilities. The city of Adama, population of 500,000 is at the center of a catchment area of 4 million people who are primarily poor, rural, and uneducated. The burden of cervical cancer , not only affects women, but also has a disastrous impact on their children, families, and communities.
We provide cervical cancer screening, treatment, and education for most women and their families. We include an outreach to the rural populations within a 700 kilometer radius of the screening center.
The long -term impact of screening, treatment ,and education will be to significantly decrease the burden of cervical cancer mortality and to lessen it's effect on 3000 women, their families and communities annually. The project is specifically focused on rural women, HIV+ women, and women with disabilities. The development of a cervical cancer screening program will effectively link awareness of early diagnosis as critical for survival..
This project has provided additional documentation in a DOCX file (projdoc.docx).