MANDEVILLE, Manchester — The obstetrics and gynaecology department at Mandeville Regional Hospital has been gifted well-needed equipment including a colposcopy machine for screening of cervical cancer, courtesy of the Rotary and Rotaract clubs in Mandeville.

Senior medical officer at the Mandeville Regional Hospital Dr Everton McIntosh said the equipment is vital to the hospital’s care for its patients. April is observed as Cervical Cancer Awareness Month in Jamaica.

“This is a big deal for us at Mandeville Hospital. Cervical cancer is very common in Jamaica and worldwide; it is the second most common form of cancer in females after breast cancer and accounts for a significant morbidity and mortality…because of delays in getting screening,” McIntosh said during a handing over ceremony on Monday.

He stressed the importance of patients being screened and encouraged women to do their regular Pap smears.

“There is this fear where people are afraid to get screened, because they may find out that they have cancer, but that is the whole point. Prevention is better than cure. That principle still applies. You want to catch it in the early stage before it gets to the cancerous region, or even if it is cancer you can catch it early enough, you can be treated by surgery,” he said.

“Unfortunately, most females with cervical cancer present at a late stage. We are talking about stage three, stage four advanced cancers where sometimes surgery is not even an option… and that is not a very nice situation for the patient. It is totally preventable, so do your Pap smears if you are of childbearing age,” added McIntosh.

He said screening and early diagnosis can make a world of a difference between treatment and surgery to remove lesions.

“It is a very simple procedure and if there is an abnormality, it is not the end of the world… as you can go to do your colposcopy and that will define what the lesion is and if it is an early lesion, it can be treated right there. You don’t even need to do any surgery,” he said.

Additionally, the hospital was given 10 Doppler machines by the Rotary and Rotaract clubs in Mandeville.

“The Doppler machines are also very important in terms of evaluating pregnant women to evaluate the well-being of their babies by listening to the foetal heart, so you can tell whether or not the baby is doing well,” said McIntosh.

He expressed gratitude to the service clubs for the donation of equipment.

“We are exceedingly grateful for these gifts and I can assure you that they will be put to great use and will make a tremendous difference in terms of the quality of care that we offer here at Mandeville Regional Hospital for our women,” he said.

Dr Orville Blair, head of obstetrics and gynaecology, shared a similar sentiment and has lobbied for the acquisition of more well-needed equipment.

“The colposcopy machine is used to diagnose and not to treat, so there are two other equipment that we will need to help, that is the cold coagulator to treat low-grade disease, and a leep generator to treat high-grade disease. Presently we don’t have that equipment, so we have another way of treating what we call a cone biopsy, which is not a modern way,” said Blair.

President of the Rotary Club of Mandeville Ava Dunn said the organisation will continue to support the Mandeville Regional Hospital.

“This project has been sometime in the making. This is a gift to the hospital and the people of central Jamaica. As Rotarians we believe this equipment will be best served to the women in the region who use Mandeville Regional Hospital. Talking about cervical cancer is not easy, it is surrounded by silence, stigma and misinformation, but Rotary is built on breaking barriers together,” she said.

She lauded the Rotaract Club of Mandeville for also contributing towards the donation of equipment to the medical facility.

“We pledge our continued support to the Mandeville Regional Hospital,” she said.

The audience at Monday’s handing over ceremony of equipment at Mandeville Regional Hospital.  (Photo: Kasey Williams)