The incidence of cancer cases has been high in the country, but especially in the Arequipa region. According to National Center for Epidemiology, Disease Prevention and Controlbetween 2020 and 2022, cervical cancer and breast cancer were the most frequent diseases suffered by women.
In Arequipa, cervical cancer led the incidence of cancer with 261 cases. Other important neoplasms in women are the breast cancer with 151 cases; leukemia (74), thyroid (69) and gallbladder (68). Nationwide, between January and April 2022, 27% of all cases were cervical cancer.
According to the Ministry of Health (Minsa), this neoplastic disease is caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV). This virus is sexually transmitted and affects not only women, but also men provoking them cancer of the penis, anus and oropharynx. To prevent these diseases, HPV vaccination should be given at an early age, before the onset of sexual intercourse to develop antibodies.
According to the Minsa, HPV caused 4,270 new cases of cervical cancer in 2020, causing 2,288 deaths. What means that every day 12 women are diagnosed with this neoplastic disease, dying 6 of them.
“This high incidence causes many women to die, which is why we have to control it. We have seen that there has been a decrease since vaccination (against HPV) began throughout the country,” he said.
Giovanna Valdivia, regional coordinator of Immunizations of the Regional Health Management of Arequipa (Geresa).
For his part, Gustavo Tohalino, dean of the Medical College of Arequipa, mentioned that immunization against HPV will lead to a decrease in this disease in the Arequipa population in the future. For this reason, The vaccination campaign has begun in the region and will last until December 2023.
HPV vaccination campaign in Arequipa
Since this year, boys and girls from 9 to 13 years old, throughout the country, will be vaccinated against the human papillomavirus (HPV). It should be noted that until the year 2022 this dose only girls received it. For more details on the HPV vaccination campaign in Arequipa, visit this article from El Búho.
“We want to continue reducing this incidence of cancer, so it is convenient that children also be vaccinated because they could transmit this virus or contract some type of cancer such as penile and anal cancer,” he explained.
Giovanna Valdivia, Geresa regional immunization coordinator.
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