Lilongwe: On 19 July 2016 the WHO Representative for Malawi Dr Eugene Appiah Nyarko, handed over cervical cancer and safe motherhood equipment worth over 44 million (USD62000) Malawi Kwacha to the Ministry of Health. The guest of Honor for the ceremony that took place at Ministry of Health headquarters conference room in Lilongwe was the Chief of Health Service s, Dr Charles Mwansambo. Present at the auspicious occasion were the Ministry of Health Directors, Programme Managers and the media.

Speaking to the audience, Dr Nyarko (WR) said that in addition to the cervical cancer equipment the World Health Organization was also handing over maternal and newborn equipment to be distributed to all facilities in the country. He continued to inform the audience that in Africa today cervical cancer is one of the leading causes of deaths among women.

“There are 97,000 new cases and 56,000 women die from cervical cancer each year. The majority of these deaths can be prevented through universal access to comprehensive cervical cancer prevention and control programmes. These programmes have the potential to reach adolescent girls aged 9-13 years through human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination and all women with screening and treatment for pre-cancer lesions,” Dr Nyarko said. Currently, the WHO is supporting national programmes by conducting cervical cancer screening using Visual Inspection with acetic acid and treatment of pre-cancerous lesions using cryotherapy in all 28 districts. This project is funded by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

The equipment that was handed over to the Ministry of Health comprised the Gynaecological set which consists of Colposcope, PC and Monitor, cryogun, instrument set, sphygmomanometer, Thermometer, Penlight and gloves. The loop electrosurgical excision procedure unit (LEEP) is a compact model with up to four storable programmes and monitor, complete with probes and other accessories.

The Chief of Health Services and Guest of Honour for the occasion Dr Charles Mwansambo, told reporters after the function that the cancer equipment and the maternal and newborn commodities that the World Health Organization has donated will fill in some gaps in cancer screening  treatment and care. “The Ministry of Health will make sure that the equipment and the commodities that we have received will be put to good use by all health workers that are responsible in the referral facilities as well as the district and peripheral facilities,” Dr Mwansambo said. 

The World Health Organization over the years has been supporting Ministry of Health to scale up the cervical cancer screening programme by training new providers and opening up new sites. Lately, the screening services were scaled up to all four central and 25 district hospitals and in a number health centres including CHAM health facilities. There are now over 120 sites across the country where women are being screened and last year (2015) over 48,000 women were screened. Of these about 3,000 were diagnosed to have pre-cancer lesions and about 80% of them were treated accordingly thereby preventing them developing full cancer.

The WHO is also supporting the government to introduce the HPV vaccine to prevent cervical cancer. The HPV vaccine is given to adolescent girls aged 9 to 13 years old. The results from the first three years of the vaccination programme in Zomba and Rumphi (the pilot districts) have been very encouraging. Ministry of Health and WHO in collaboration partners are now considering scaling up the programme in the near future.

Below:

01. Standing left is WR Malawi Dr Eugene Nyarko handing over cervical cancer equipment and newborn and maternal health commodities at the MOH conference room and Dr Charles Mwansambo received the donation

02. Dr Eugene Nyarko WR Malawi being interviewed by the media after the handover ceremony

03. Dr Nyarko and Dr Mwansambo sitting at the high table (third and forth from left) with MOH directors