Participants during a virtual workshop held to raise awareness about cervical cancer.
Qatar Cancer Society (QCS) has concluded ‘You Are Precious’ campaign which raised awareness about cervical cancer, which is the sixth most newly diagnosed cancer among females in Qatar according to Qatar National Cancer Registry (QNCR) at the Ministry of Public Health.
The campaign held several virtual workshops and awareness competitions to raise awareness among women about signs, symptoms, risk factors, and encourage early detection. Also, it distributed 100 vouchers to women to do Pap Smear test for free at Al Ahli Hospital.
Many specialists participated in the campaign including Dr. Aisha Al Thani from Aisha Salman Al Thani Center; Dr. Sahar Al Ani - Consultant Obstetrician and Gynecologist at the Middle East Center; Nour Al-Bisani from Diet Delight Center; and Dr. Nagham Al-Kreedi at Al-Dafna Medical Center, as well as media figure Amal Abdul Malik, who contributed to spreading awareness of cervical cancer through media platforms and accounts on social media.
Heba Nassar, health educator at QCS, said, “Cervical cancer can affect any woman especially between the age of 20 and 50.Cervical cancer often does not show symptoms until it is in an advanced stage. So it is important to start early detection tests regularly even when one is healthy.”
According to Nassar, the risk factors for cervical cancer include human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, smoking, recurrent cervical infections, family history, having given birth to three or more children, using birth control pills for a long time and lack of screening. She explained that the early signs and symptoms are abnormal vaginal bleeding, abnormal vaginal discharge, pelvic pain, pain during intercourse, which can be detected by Pap test or HPV test and prevented through HPV vaccine for those aged 15 years and above.
The Pap test is a simple one and the best time to do the test is 10 to 14 days from the first day of menstruation.
The first Pap test should be done after three years of marriage if the age is 21 years or above. After the first Pap test, women should go for the test every three years until the age of 65. After 65, the test can be stopped if the last three Pap tests are normal. Pap tests can be done in most of the health centers.
