Medical authorities are appealing to women of Region 10 to access available services for the early detection of pre-cervical cancer and other forms of cancer, following the results of a recent two day medical outreach in Linden.

Approximately 100 women turned up at the Linden Hospital Complex on Thursday and Friday last week to be screened for cervical cancer. Over 10% were found to be positive, using the Visual Inspection with Acetic Acid (VIA) method. The outreach was follow-up training for a specially selected team of medical personnel who were trained extensively in VIA Cryotherapy. The team included two of Linden’s medical practitioners, Medex Cleo Quimby and Dr. Shaware Profitt.

Team leader Dr. John Varallo explained that the VIA process is very simple. A vinegar solution is swabbed on the cervix and areas that change colour expose damaged tissue, such as that found in pre-cancerous or cancerous lesions. Persons found positive of having abnormal tissues can receive immediate treatment. Over 10% of the women tested in Linden came out positive for cancer and pre cancer—a finding Dr. Varallo said is typical among the population of Guyanese women.

About 50% of the affected women had to be referred for a more advance treatment, having been diagnosed with lesions too large to be treated through Cryotherapy. At other sites across Guyana, 80% of the affected women were able to receive immediate treatment. The positive findings were among women between age 40 and 50. This has led to the medical care providers urging others in the town to take the test in order for early detection. “It is critical that other women come out and be tested,” Varallo said.

Women who are HIV+ are most at risk. Those women who tested negative are advised to return for reassessment within three years, while those who are HIV+ should return within one year. “We had no HIV+ women come in, which is little concerning. We don’t know if it’s not reported or if it is that the message hasn’t gotten out indicating that HIV+ women need to be screened, which is very different from our experience in other centers where we had a higher rate of HIV+ women coming out to be screened,” Dr Varallo added.

Guyana has a high percentage of women diagnosed with cervical cancer. This has been blamed on the poor screening and treatment available in the country. “All women are at risk for developing pre-cancer or even cancer of the cervix. Pre-cancer has a pretty long stage before developing into cancer, but when you have pre-cancer you don’t have any symptoms… it is not associated with bleeding or discharge so screening is the only way you are going to know if you have that and we have effective treatment for it,” he said. He added that all women, especially those between age 25 and 50 years, should be screened.
The screening for cancer and pre-cancer conditions is now a regular service being offered at the Linden Hospital Complex and women who have not been screened are advised to access the service through Medex Quimby and Dr. Profitt.