Cervical Cancer is a public health problem, which accounts for an estimated five hundred and thirty thousand incident cases and two hundred and seventy five thousand deaths worldwide annually.
This was disclosed by Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health, Wellness and the Environment, Louis De Shong, while addressing participants yesterday at a workshop to discuss the results of a study and survey conducted to identify high risk Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) infections in a sample of women here in St. Vincent and the Grenadines and St. Kitts-Nevis.
Mr. De Shong said Cervical Cancer accounts for about 13 percent of the global burden of cancer.
He noted that the burden of cervical is greater in Latin America and the Caribbean than in America, and added that his ministry needs to address the issue, as research has shown that HPV is the cause of 90% of cervical cancer.
