It’s the single largest cause of cancer-related death for Pacific women — so prevalent that one health expert says it impacts “everyone that you speak to” in the region.
Women in the Pacific are 14 times more likely to die from cervical cancer than in Australia, but there are hopes a record philanthropic donation will change that.
The University of New South Wales’s Kirby Institute has received its single largest donation — nearly $26 million, from UK-based company The Swire Group — to support cervical cancer screening and treatment in seven Pacific countries.
A health worker in Vanuatu demonstrates how to collect a specimen for cervical cancer screening. (Suppled: UNSW)
The Kirby Institute, which works to eliminate infectious diseases, will use it to help more than 130,000 women in Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Samoa.
Vanessa Price, senior program manager at the Kirby Institute’s Asia and Pacific Health program, said cervical cancer was a leading cause of death in the region despite being preventable.
Vanessa Price says cervical cancer is highly prevalent in the Pacific. (Supplied: UNSW)
“This investment will enable us to work with countries over the next five years and it will save lives,” she said.
Samoa’s Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata’afa said cervical cancer is devastating to women, families, and entire communities across the Pacific.
“This generous investment will enable countries like Samoa to partner with the Kirby Institute to advance our vision of a world free of cervical cancer,” she said.
‘Game changer’
Ms Price said “everyone that you speak to has been impacted by” cervical cancer in the Pacific.
In the western Pacific, an estimated 145,700 women were diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2020, and 74,900 died from the largely preventable disease.
Almost all cases of cervical cancer are caused by human papillomavirus, or HPV infection.
“Most women with HPV infection or early cervical disease don’t experience any symptoms so early detection through screening is really crucial,” Ms Price said.
She said the donation would be used to provide more cervical cancer screening in Pacific Island countries — including a new service letting women receive results on the same day of testing.
“[Women] self-collect their specimen, that is tested on the spot, and their results are returned to them within one to two hours,” she said.
Women await their test results at Galoa pop-up clinic in Fiji. (Supplied: UNSW)
Women who test positive for HPV can be treated the same day, an approach Ms Price said is a “game changer” in addressing high cervical cancer rates.
“Previous approaches have involved invasive pelvic examination, and results could take weeks or months,” she said.
Ni-Vanuatu woman Hanson Siba believes the new service may have saved her life.
When her local hospital posted on social media that they were offering HPV testing, Ms Siba decided to go in for a check-up.
“I did my test, after an hour they told me that I’m positive … and then the lady asked me, ‘would you like to [be treated]? We can give you the treatment now’, so I accepted that,” she said.
“After the moment the nurse told me ‘you’re positive’, I was worried at the time because I knew that I’m a single mother living with the kids and how am I going to treat this?”
Six months after her same-day test result she went for a check-up, and tested negative for HPV.
Ms Siba said it was an “easy” experience, and she hopes the donation will help other women access the service in Vanuatu.
“I would recommend every lady should go for the check-up, to check themselves before it is too late, to get the treatment before it’s too late for them,” she said.
Without early detection through screening, most women with HPV infection or early cervical disease will develop cervical cancer, because they do not experience symptoms.
Maitonga Lulu Soeuso is encouraging women to test for HPV after losing his wife to cervical cancer. (Supplied: UNSW)
Maitonga Lulu Soeuso, a village leader in Mele, Vanuatu, lost his wife to cervical cancer, 12 days after she was admitted to hospital. At the time their child was just nine months old.
“She held my hands and slipped quietly away,” he said.
He is now involved in efforts to encourage women to test for HPV.
“We have to fight this disease … young girls are dying, especially young mothers are dying.
“Please take your chance, with the funding, get a check-up,” he said.
Working towards eradication
The donation to the Kirby Institute builds on the successes of earlier cervical cancer treatment programs that were hindered by the diverse and often remote geography of Pacific countries.
“Countries have really been incredible in embracing this agenda and in moving things forward, but we need to continue to advocate with them for sustained evidence-based support across a broader range of countries as well,” the institute’s Vanessa Price said.
In Fiji, Ministry of Health official Rachel Devi will coordinate the rollout of the donation funding to cervical cancer programs.
Fiji Ministry of Health official Rachel Devi hopes the region will be able to eradicate cervical cancer. (Supplied: Rachel Devi)
Ms Devi, who manages the reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, adolescent, and sexual health programs for the country, said the donation will be a great boost for Fiji.
“I’m excited personally and looking forward to implementing this program,” she said.
Despite the high prevalence of the disease, she has hopes that the Pacific can drastically reduce cervical cancer.
“Eradication definitely is in the picture, on the cards, in the near future, but definitely it’s something to look forward and to aspire to,” she said.
