By RODRICK DESURI
AUKI
A two-member team from the Solomon Islands Planned Parenthood Association (SIPPA) is in Sinamuari Clinic, West Kwaio, Malaita Province, to conduct cervical cancer testing among women of ages between 25 and 40.
Registered nurse, Mercy Surana said the testing programme will help women, especially in rural areas, to know whether they have cervical cancer or not.
She said the team started the testing on Wednesday, September 24, and will finish off today, Friday, September 26, 2025.
Surana explained that from this programme, mothers will be able to learn more about their bodies and if they have cervical cancer or not.
“With this, the women will also get educated about related information, what to do if they have it, and prevention measures for cervical cancer if they don’t have it,” she said.
Jacinta I’ama’afu appreciates the SIPPA team for bringing the cervical cancer testing program to the rural areas.
She said many women in the communities have heard about cervical cancer as a killer, don’t really know much about how to find out if they have or do not have the disease.
“We have heard about the killer disease, but we don’t know how to know if we have it. But today, we are lucky that this vital outreach program has come to our doorstep,” she said.
I’ama’afu encourages other mothers who have not been tested to come forward and get tested.
“I want to make a call and encourage other mothers who are yet to come for testing to come forward as soon as possible, as this opportunity only comes once,” she said.
According to reports from the World Health Organization, cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer in women globally, with around 660,000 new cases and around 350,000 deaths in 2022.
The highest rates of cervical cancer incidence and mortality are in low- and middle-income countries.
This reflects major inequities driven by a lack of access to national HPV vaccination, cervical screening, and treatment services, as well as social and economic determinants.
Countries around the world are working to accelerate the elimination of cervical cancer in the coming decades, with an agreed set of three targets to be met by 2030.
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