Did you know April is Rotary International’s Maternal and Child Health Month? Today the focus will be on maternal health.
Our club is very fortunate to have several healthcare professionals who use their skills and expertise to improve the lives of others both on and off the clock. There are many Rotarians around the world that have healthcare backgrounds, and there is a Fellowship of Health Professionals in Rotary.
Lori Forand, our current International Director, is also a program manager with Alberta Health Services. Lori brought an opportunity to the board to reduce cervical cancer worldwide, with the Cervical Cancer Project, an initiative by World Community Service, which involves cervical cancer screening in Guatemala and research support.
Cervical cancer kills more people than polio did. According to the World Health Organization, cervical cancer is the eighth most common cancer worldwide and the fourth most frequent cancer in women. Approximately 90% of deaths from cervical cancer occur in low and middle-income countries. These deaths could be reduced by prevention, early diagnosis, effective screening and treatment programs and the use of the HPV vaccine, which can prevent most cases of cervical cancer if given before exposure to the virus. In low resource, developing countries, the disease is often not identified until it is further advanced, resulting in a higher rate of death. As a result, the WHO has made the elimination of cervical cancer one of its top priorities. The government of Canada similarly sees the importance and, in June of 2019, announced an investment of 10 million dollars to support national cervical cancer research.
When the WHO called attention to this enormous issue, eight Calgarians, including club members Dr. Walley Temple and Dr. Sonny Belenkie, decided to link their research and created Cervical Action Canada. Cervical Action Canada will hold three conferences in Calgary in two-year intervals, with the first to be held in 2022. These will be available in six languages, with 30 countries in attendance.
Dr. Walley Temple joined Barb Young, Chair of WCS in Guatemala in January, pre-COVID-19, along with Guatemalan Rotary Clubs to discuss support for cervical cancer screening. In Guatemala, cervical cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths among women of reproductive age, with 3.77 million Guatemalan women currently at risk for this potentially fatal cancer. Our club is proud to support cervical screening to women living in impoverished and isolated communities.