By Heather Johnston | President and CEO
Malawi has the highest prevalence of cervical cancer in the world with about 75.9 cases per 100,000 women. This accounts for about 45% of all female cancers in the country and cervical cancer kills about 1600 women in Malawi every year. Because women living with HIV have 6 to 8 times increased risk of invasive cancer of the cervix, and Dignitas has well-developed infrastructure of HIV services in Malawi’s southeast Zone, we have set out to link HIV care and cancer screening to protect women's health. The generous support for our GlobalGiving campaign has helped to expand our screening and treatment programs from Zomba Central Hospital to smaller underserviced district hospitals. With your support, we can reach thousands of women at risk of invasive cervical cancer.
Funds raised through GlobalGiving have helped us to bring much needed treatment and care to women who live in rural communities throughout the southeast zone. In addition to Tisungane Clinic, Dignitas is now able to conduct cervical cancer screenings in eight rural health facilities throughout the districts where we work.
With your help, we are making progress towards that goal. We have hired a local nurse, Lydia Chiwale, who now works full-time at Tisungane Clinic. She provides screening for 20 or more women per day, on a daily basis. We have also purchased equipment to treat pre-cancerous lesions and prevent cancer from developing. We have secured a cold coagulator machine for Tisungane Clinic as well as three more for district clinics. We have trained 40 Ministry of Health staff to provide effective cervical cancer screenings.
We estimate that in the four districts where we support screening and treatment only 25% of eligible women receive even one screening during their lifetime. As a next step, we seek to increase that to 35%. Our long-term goal is to add another 16 sites that offer screenings. By increasing the coverage of screening, we will significantly decrease the number of women who die from this disease. Thank you for your support for this initiative and for Dignitas International. Together, we are making much needed progress to help women in Malawi beat cervical cancer.
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