“Pink October” has passed, but the fight against cancer never stops. In this country, energies are being mobilized to fight against breast and cervical cancer, which remain a major public health concern in Senegal. They cause significant loss of human life among women. According to Dr. Fatou Diop, Director General of Pikine Hospital, “1,312 women die per year and 2,024 suffer from cervical cancer per year.”
But, to participate in this fight, the Sutsas union branch of Pikine hospital organized, this Saturday, the second edition of free screening for breast and cervical cancer. An initiative which is part of “Pink October”, to fight against breast and cervical cancer. Apart from these free consultations which have mobilized many women, the emphasis is placed on awareness. “We are going to use awareness raising to convince women to get tested. If cancer is diagnosed early, it can be cured,” declares Professor Alassane Diouf, head of the Gynecology Department at Pikine hospital. According to him, this action is also part of the global initiative to eliminate breast and cervical cancer. “This initiative dates from 2018, and to do this, girls under the age of 14 must be vaccinated. We must screen women of childbearing age and treat all women who are screened, to achieve the elimination of this scourge which causes 3 to 4 deaths per day worldwide,” adds Professor Diouf.
Echoing this, according to Dr Omar Gassama, president of the Senegalese Society of Colposcopy and Papiomavirus-related pathologies, this fight is very poorly organized in the country. “For me in Senegal, gynecological screening for breast cancer is very poorly done. Because it is opportunistic screening. In Senegal and in most developing countries, screening is very poorly organized,” he emphasizes. For him, “we need a political strategy that must be clear and well defined or standards, protocols and procedures so that every woman and every health provider can know what to do.”
In his opinion, this fight must essentially be focused on communication. “Women and men must receive the right information. Beyond women and men, it is health providers who must also have the right information,” insists Dr Gassama. In any case, Abdoul Dème, the Secretary General of Sutsas, Section of the Pikine hospital center, explains again: “We are giving the chance to those who were not able to do “Pink October” to do so today.” In response, the women did not give up on the opportunity by moving en masse to Pikine.
By Justin GOMIS – [email protected]
