In Malawi, a country that already has one of the world's highest rates of HIV, thousands of women face an added challenge: the world's highest rates of invasive cervical cancer. Thousands of women are dying each year, while many more are left undiagnosed. You can change this by supporting a new Dignitas International women's health initiative that focuses on improving invasive cervical cancer screening and treatment for women that don't have access to the health care they desperately need.
More women in Malawi die from invasive cervical cancer than anywhere else in the world. It is fully preventable and treatable if caught early, but because of a lack of training and health resources, the disease is taking the lives of too many. For women living with HIV, the risks are even greater - even when they are already on HIV treatment. Often the first people who care for others, the preventable loss of daughters, mothers and grandmothers across the country is breaking families apart.
Our goal is to use the strong health system we have already established for HIV care to test and treat women for invasive cervical cancer. Because HIV-positive women are uniquely vulnerable to this disease, we want to link HIV care and cancer screening to better protect women's health. By expanding this program from Zomba Central Hospital to smaller underserviced district hospitals, we can reach thousands of women at risk of invasive cervical cancer.
Our long-term goal is to expand cervical cancer screening to 16 health facilities in 4 districts, reaching an estimated 16,000 daughters, mothers and grandmothers. The funds we receive will help support the people, equipment, and systems needed to increase screening and treatment of cervical cancer in Malawi.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
