Grace Natabaalo and Agencies
5 February 2008
Kampala — UGANDA is among a few developing countries lined to benefit from the first cervical cancer vaccine trial project.
The project to be implemented by the Programme for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH), a non governmental organisation, hopes to come up with a cervical cancer vaccine by 2010.
"Young women in India, Peru, Uganda, and Vietnam will become the first in the developing world to live without fear of cervical cancer-as PATH and our partners begin pilot introduction of new vaccines for the disease," reads a statement on the organisation's website.
In 2005, cancer killed approximately 14,000 people in Uganda. 8,000 of those were under the age of 70.
Of the various cancers, cervical cancer remains the most common cancer killing women in Uganda according to the World Health Organisation.
Developing countries lack resources and women miss out on lifesaving screening and treatment because such facilities are not available to women, according to PATH.
"The new vaccines will make it possible to protect women before they become infected, another line of defence for those who don't have access to regular screening," reads the statement.
The vaccines will protect women against the strains of the human papillomavirus (HPV) that causes cervical cancer.
HPV is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the world. Women are usually infected in their teens, 20s, or early 30s, and if untreated, the cancer becomes life-threatening.
According to Dr Scott Lamontagne country research coordinator of the project based in America, the programme implementation trials are underway.
State Minister for Health in charge of General Duties Dr. Richard Nduhura said the Ministry of Health is closely working with development partners to address the problem of lack of screening and treatment services in the country.
"The availability of easier and simpler and less costly methods of screening and treatment offer a window of opportunity to prevent cancer," he said.
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