With breast cancer identified as the leading cause of cancer deaths among women in the Caribbean, Permanent Representative of The Bahamas Dr Paulette Bethel told a recent UN session that women who play a critical role in development in many instances do not enjoy “the right to the highest attainable standard of health.”
In addition to the impact of breast cancer, Bethel noted that cervical cancer remained a major public health problem among women of the developing world.
She was at the time speaking at a panel discussion, on the impact of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) and especially breast and cervical cancers, which was sponsored by the Permanent Missions of the CARICOM countries led by the Commonwealth of The Bahamas during the 44th Session of the United Nations Commission on Population Development (UNCPD) held last Wednesday. The panel was also sponsored by the UNCDP, the United Nation Population Fund Agency (UNFPA), the Republic of Malawi, the Pan-American Health Organisation (PAHO), the American Cancer Society and PATH.
It saw more than 200 representatives from Member States, UN agencies, and a number of civil society organisations, who contributed to the thematic discussions of the UNCPD session on Fertility, Reproductive Health and Development. Moderated by CARICOM national Dr Karen Sealey, WHO/PAHO Special Adviser, the panel discussion was also used as a platform on which to build momentum for the UN High Level Meeting on the Prevention and Control of NCDs set for New York from September 19 to 20.
According to a CARICOM statement, Bethel, in her remarks to the forum, pointed to the burden of NCDs on CARICOM countries and particularly how it affected women. Bethel called on the international community to work together to improve access to the quality of health care and service delivery for women throughout the world.
The panellists for the discussion forum included Madame Callista Mutharika, the First Lady of Malawi and incoming Vice Chairperson for the Forum of African First Ladies on Breast and Cervical Cancer; Purnima Mane, Deputy Executive Director of UNFPA; Scott Wittet, Lead Advocacy and Communication for Cervical Cancer Prevention Programmes at PATH; and Clover Allen Wilson, a breast cancer survivor from Jamaica.
Mane, in her review of the global situation on the two types of cancers, noted that a disproportionate number of cases and deaths due to these cancers occurred in the developing world. She hastened to add however, that all was not gloom and doom as cost effective interventions now exist for low resource settings. Mane called on member states to view resources for these programmes as investment in women.
Mutharika painted a grim picture of the situation in Africa, not only in terms of the statistics but in terms of the challenges of the cultural realities around those issues. She also explained the mission of the Forum of First Ladies of Africa against Cancers of the Breast and Cervix; discussed strategies that it would use to confront those diseases in their regions; and launched an advocacy package for the forum.
According to CARICOM, Allen Wilson brought a human face to the issues as she shared intimate details of her continued fight against breast cancer.
Wittet, meanwhile, highlighted the significant reduction in the price of the HPV vaccine in his Cervical Cancer Action Report on the Progress in Cervical Cancer Prevention. He reported that there were now many more reliable methods for screening for cancer of the cervix, other than the Pap Smear and emphasised that numerous approaches to treatment could be carried out at the primary-care level.
The US delegation also reiterated its support for the high level meeting and highlighted its national inter-agency efforts to address NCDs in preparation for that meeting.
