This archive report was first published on 3 August 2019.
On Valentine's Day, three and a half years ago, a woman named Lillian visited a sexology clinic, desperate to satisfy her husband sexually. Her desire for intimacy had been hindered by continuous bleeding, which had lasted for over a month.
As a doctor, I examined Lillian and discovered a friable growth in her cervix, which was bleeding easily. The growth seemed to be extending to the pelvis, and I feared it could be a serious condition, possibly cancer.
Lillian had never had a Pap smear, a crucial test that detects changes in the cervix that could develop into cancer. Treating those changes in good time can avert cancer of the cervix.
Unfortunately, Lillian's cancer was at an advanced stage, and she underwent surgery to remove her uterus. She then underwent radiotherapy, but 10 months later, her kidneys failed due to the cancer cells invading the urinary system.
Realising that the cancer had advanced beyond repair, Lillian was referred to a hospice for terminal care, where she passed away a few months later.
Cervical cancer is a common and often deadly disease in Kenya, with over 2,500 new cases diagnosed each year. It is estimated that over half a million cases of the cancer are newly diagnosed globally each year, leading to about 280,000 deaths of women.
Early detection through routine screening using Pap smear or other tests is key to preventing this disease. Any woman who has had sex needs to be screened, and for young girls who are yet to be exposed to sex, there is now a vaccine that can be administered from the age of nine years.
