LUCEA, Hanover — With concerns over cervical cancer numbers, the medical officer of health for Hanover is again encouraging people to get tested.

The Hanover Health Services conducted 561 papanicolaou (pap smear) tests over the last quarter with three per cent of the results returning abnormal results.

Pap smear is a screening procedure used to detect pre-cancerous and cancerous processes in the cervix through the collection of cells which are then examined under a microscope. The test can also help identify other conditions like infections or inflammation.

“Three per cent is a big number…So this is not something that we can sit down and live like that. This is the time for everybody to get their screening done,” encouraged Medical Officer of Health for Hanover Dr Kaushal Singh as she addressed the latest regular monthly meeting of the Hanover Municipal Corporation last Thursday.

Cervical cancer is a significant health concern, ranking as the fourth most common cancer in Jamaica and the second most common in women across the island.

Although Jamaica has one of the highest cervical incident rates in the Americas, the country’s screening rate is very low.

Dr Singh pointed out that pap smears can be done at all health centres across the parish. He said the test is done five days each week at all major health centres and on dedicated days of one or two days per month at rural health centres in Hanover.

“Utilise it, because this is life-saving and if it is detected early, we can cure it. That is why screening is very much important,” said Dr Singh.

He noted that the leading types of cancer for females are breast and cervical cancer and pointed out that cervical cancer can be prevented through the use of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines.

“We are urging all parents to get their kids this vaccine before they get sexually active, that helps. This is scientifically proven data from the First World where their cervical cancer rate went down,” added Dr Singh.

He pointed out that the vaccine — which is to prevent cervical cancer — is for both females and males in which the disease is transmitted sexually.

“Males can transmit HPV. A male can also have certain types of cancer [anal and genital],” stated Dr Singh in response to queries from the Mayor of Lucea Sheridan Samuels.

Recently Dr Anna-Kay Taylor Christmas, gynaecologic oncologist at Victoria Jubilee Hospital, declared that Jamaica is “one of the worst in the Caribbean” as far as HPV vaccine take-up is concerned, with only four per cent vaccination as of 2022.

“We are aiming for 90 per cent. Trinidad is at 22 per cent, Belize is at 54 per cent, and Dominica is at 83 per cent, and there are other Caricom countries, so what is our excuse? We need to treat the HPV vaccine like measles, mumps, and rubella [vaccines] and so help our girls to not have to suffer and die from a disease that’s preventable,” Taylor Christmas told a meeting of the Jamaica Observer Press Club.

In 2017, the Ministry of Health and Wellness embarked on a programme to vaccinate Jamaican girls against HPV after a 2010 study it conducted revealed that two types of HPV were found to be present in 10.5 per cent of the general population. As the vaccine has proven to be more effective when administered before contact with the virus, the programme targets girls ages nine to 14 years old.

In the meantime Jamaica Cancer Society Executive Director Roshane Reid-Koomson told the Observer that while the entity currently offers pap smear screenings and not the vaccine, it is very aware of the pushback against the jab.

“The promotion of the HPV vaccine is very important to this cause. There is a new thrust in the schools to vaccinate children. When those messages and information come to the school and they are channelled through the PTA [Parent Teacher Association] and in the WhatsApp groups, they are frowned upon, so a greater campaign is needed to encourage persons,” said Reid-Koomson.

“We are still getting pushback for HPV vaccines, but we support it wholeheartedly at the Jamaica Cancer Society, and it will be better for our patients and their families if they are vaccinated, so we support the push for vaccination,” Reid-Koomson said.

“Another thing we support wholeheartedly, too, is getting your pap smear done, whether annually or every three years, whatever the frequency of it is,” added Reid-Koomson.