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News that more than 10 000 Zimbabwean women have recently undergone cervical cancer screening, with plans to help more vulnerable women undergo check-ups raises hope in the early detection of the deadly chronic ailment.

Cervical cancer occurs when abnormal cells on the cervix camera grow out of control.

Mostly cervical cancer is caused by a virus called human papilloma virus, or HPV.

The sad reality is that cervical cancer accounts for one-third of all cancer cases in Zimbabwe and is the leading cause of cancer deaths among Zimbabwean women.

In Zimbabwe, an estimated 5 000 different types of cancer cases are diagnosed each year, and the majority of the affected die without accessing treatment. Sixty percent of cancer cases are HIV related.

There is every reason for Zimbabweans to worry, as according to information from the National Cancer Registry, health institutions are recording just a fraction of cancer cases in the country, the majority are going unreported.

Those that eventually seek medical assistance, do so when it’s already too late.

And when they do so, they are referred for chemotherapy, whose cost is beyond the reach of many.

Most poor women, who are referred for chemotherapy go back to die in their homes as they fail to pay for the service, which costs an average of $400 a session.

This has resulted in them resorting to alternative medicines that include traditional and complementary, some of which worsen their condition. This calls for Government to urgently invest more funds in chemotherapy services to cushion the poor. Government should also decentralise radiotherapy services as they are currently only offered at Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals and Mpilo Central Hospital.

The current situation where the services are only offered at these two centres results in many women failing to travel as they do not have bus fare.

There is also a lack of statistical data on cervical cancer as only cases that come to institutions are recorded.

This lack of correct data on cancer in Zimbabwe has been hindering efforts to draw up an effective strategy and the Ministry of Health and Child Care and its partners should invest more in this area. The role of political leadership in early cancer detection cannot be overlooked.

The First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa realising why it is important for women to be regularly screened for cervical cancer has been spearheading the Visual Inspection with Acetic Acid (VIAC) programme countrywide through her charity organisation Angels of Hope, a commendable initiative bound to save the lives of many poor women.

Early detection of cancer is important and women in all sectors of society should have access to information on where to get services.

To support the work and passion of the First Lady, there is need for corporates, non-governmental organisations, individuals and churches to fund campaigns aimed at cancer prevention programmes and treatment, especially in rural areas where the majority of poor women live.

Access to accurate information through various forms of mass media and campaigns at village and ward levels by community health workers will surely result in lesser cases where women arrive at rural hospitals with invasive, late-stage cervical cancer, and little can be done for them.

It is also important to vaccinate girls before they are exposed to HPV as a way of achieving the greatest impact, since evidence has proved a very high clinical efficacy of the HPV vaccine in women without evidence of infection with vaccine-related HPV and a lower efficacy among those already exposed to HPV.

The HPV vaccine, which was introduced for the first time in the Zimbabwe Expanded Programme of Immunisation in September 2014 was a step in nipping cancer in the bud.

The vaccination programme uses a school-based strategy, which targets all girls aged 10. The girls, including those out of school have been accessing the vaccines from health centres and through community based strategies.

Cervical cancer is not just a woman’s problem. It is everyone’s responsibility to ensure lasting solutions are found.