New UN publication advises how to reduce deaths from cervical cancer

Many of the quarter of a million deaths a year from cervical cancer worldwide could be avoided if women got affordable early screening and treatment of pre-cancerous lesions, according to a new manual endorsed by the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO).

The 255-page "Manual for Planning and Implementing Cervical Cancer Prevention Programmes," outlines low-cost ways of visually inspecting the area at the base of the womb, freezing pre-cancerous lesions and giving follow-up treatment.

It says about 80 per cent of the half a million new cases of cervical cancer that occur annually are found mainly in Latin America, the Caribbean, sub-Saharan Africa and the Indian sub-continent.

The manual was compiled by the Pan-American Health Organization, WHO's division in the Americas and a member of the Alliance for Cervical Cancer Prevention (ACCP), and four other organizations.

The World Health Assembly next March will discuss a resolution on reinforcing comprehensive cancer policies and strategies of member states, PAHO said.