China News Service, Beijing, January 28 (Reporter Liu Xu) Every January is Cervical Cancer Awareness Month, which aims to call attention to the prevention and treatment of cervical cancer.
Zhao Fanghui, director of the Epidemiology Research Office, Doctoral Supervisor, and Distinguished Professor of Concord Scholars of the Cancer Hospital of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, pointed out in an interview with reporters in Beijing a few days ago that the prevention and treatment of cervical cancer in China still faces the challenge of low screening coverage and vaccination rates. Call on women to be screened for cervical cancer and vaccinated in time.
The 2019 ICO World HPV and Related Disease Report shows that among Chinese women aged 15 to 44, the incidence of cervical cancer ranks third in malignant tumors, and it has become the second leading cause of cancer deaths in women of this age in China.
Zhao Fanghui said that a major change in China's cervical cancer prevention and screening is the introduction of the "two cancers" screening for rural women in 2009, that is, screening for cervical cancer and breast cancer.
"I think the'two cancers' screening is epoch-making, because it is a cervical cancer screening program at the national level, which has promoted the screening work in provinces, cities, and rural areas. So now many places have formed their own China’s cervical cancer screening benefits the people’s policies.” Zhao Fanghui said, “By 2019, the country will normalize this major public health issue and include it in basic public health issues. In other words, cervical cancer screening will change. This is a very good situation to become a'normalized prevention and control work' led by the state."
"We now have country-led screening and vaccines on the market, but we still face many challenges." Zhao Fanghui reminded that from 2000 to 2015, the incidence of cervical cancer in China has increased significantly. , An annual increase rate of about 10%.
"It is not enough to rely solely on screening for prevention and treatment. The HPV vaccine must be included in the immunization program as soon as possible, so that prevention can be done on a large scale and the source can be blocked."
"There is basically a consensus among (cervical cancer) experts all over the world that it is not recommended for women to be tested for vaccination." Zhao Fanghui explained, "Whether the test result is'negative' or'positive' does not necessarily mean that you have been tested before. If you have not been infected before, there is no guarantee that you will turn negative after infection. In short, vaccination will always have a protective effect on future infections, so do not use the test results to infer whether you need to be vaccinated." Zhao Fanghui specially reminded, Women can't wait for the "signal" of the body to attract attention. Instead, they should be screened in time and regularly when they feel good to find the earliest lesions.
On November 17, 2020, the “Global Strategy for Accelerating the Elimination of Cervical Cancer” issued by the World Health Organization proposes that by 2030, 90% of women will be vaccinated with the human papilloma virus vaccine (HPV vaccine) before the age of 15. This is also the first time that 194 countries across the world have jointly pledged to eliminate a type of cancer. "Achieving such a goal requires the power of the whole society: the government must play a leading role, the public must have a high level of awareness, and the whole society must work together to rapidly expand the coverage of screening and vaccination, thereby improving cervical cancer screening. Rate and vaccination rate, and strive to eliminate cervical cancer in China as soon as possible." Zhao Fanghui said. (Finish)