The Ministry of Health and Medical Services, the Australian Government and strategic stakeholders reaffirmed their commitment to tackling cervical cancer through a day long planning workshop held today, Friday, funded by the Australian government.
The program brings together local and overseas technical experts to deliberate on how best cervical cancer can be prevented and eliminated in the Solomon Islands under new cervical screening and treatment programs, funded by Australia.
Over the next five years, the Solomon Islands Government will be receiving technical and scientific support from Australian partners and others to establish a human papillomavirus (HPV) based cervical screening and treatment program across the country.
Support will be provided through the Australian funded Elimination Partnership in for Cervical Cancer in the Indo-Pacific (EPICC) Program and the Advancing Cervical Cancer Elimination in the Pacific program (AdvanCE) supported by the Swire Group. These programs will support the Solomon Islands to screen over 41,000 age-eligible women for HPV.
Delivering the keynote address this morning, Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Health and Medical Services Mrs Pauline McNeil emphasized that Cervical cancer is a key public health threat and a concern for Solomon Islands.
“Cervical cancer is the most common form of cancer affecting the women of Solomon Islands, accounting for 18.1% of new cancer diagnosis in women and has an incidence of 19.3 per 100,000 women, largely affecting very young women in their most productive years.”
“It is preventable yet Solomon Islands women unnecessarily die each year as a result of systematic early detection and late stage diagnosis of the illness. Both the incidence and mortality rate of cervical cancer in Solomon Islands are among the highest in the world.”
The Permanent Secretary told participants at the planning workshop that they are being called upon to assist the women and girls of the country. “I am counting on your full participation to ask relevant questions, recommending best approaches, processes and innovations to ensure a successful introduction and roll out of the program, ensuring a sustainable HPV DNA self-collected screening program that will reach at 41 000 women of Solomon Islands,” said PS McNeil.
Speaking during today’s program, Australian High Commission First Secretary Health Elsie Newton says Australia is proud to be working closely with Solomon Islands Health counterparts under the new program, to ensure cervical cancer is prevented and eliminated.
“Australia has been supporting cervical cancer screening efforts in Solomon Islands since 2015, through Family Planning Australia which has assisted the implementation of VIA (visual inspection with acetic acid) and thermal ablation under the Australia NGO Cooperation Program (ANCP).
“This new support for cervical cancer screening and treatment is part of Australia’s broader support through the Solomon Islands Australia Partnership for Health. We trust the workshop will play a critical role in setting the foundations to ensuring sustainable implementation, fit for the Solomon Islands context.
“Cervical cancer is not just a health issue affecting women in Solomon Islands, it is a health issue that is affecting communities and families in Solomon Islands, and it will take a community effort and multi-sectoral effort to make cervical cancer a history in Solomon Islands,” said Ms Newton.
Presentations at the day long workshop were from Family Planning Australia, Kirby Institute UNSW and local health technical experts from the National Referral Hospital and the Ministry of Health and Medical Services.
