Cervical cancer is preventable through vaccination and screening
Reported December 25, 2007
(ArabMedicare.com) Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD), a global research-driven pharmaceutical company, will launch a countrywide educational campaign to educate UAE women about the importance of its newly-introduced vaccine, Gardasil, to prevent the incidence of cervical cancer.
Dr. Wissam Haddadin, Medical Advisor and Franchise Manager, MSD Gulf — distributors of the Gardasil vaccine in the UAE — in an exclusive interview with ArabMedicare.com divulged that plans are afoot to educate women and health professionals about the perils associated with the world’s second largest cause of cancer among women.
Cervical cancer is primarily caused by the HPV Papilloma virus and kills approximately 800 women daily, worldwide. Currently, 2.3 million women have been diagnosed with the killer disease. In the UAE, the country’s Cancer Registry Program revealed that the annual average of the reported cervical cancer cases has tripled in 2005 when compared with that from 1998-2004.
“The alarming increase in the incidence of cervical cancer in the UAE underscores the need for awareness and preventive screening” said Dr. Wissam highlighting that the administration of the vaccine and regular screening would be crucial to improving the status of women’s reproductive health in the Middle East.
“The UAE is the first country in the Middle East to acquire the vaccine, through approvals from the Ministry of Health (MOH),” Dr. Wissam said. Efforts are also being made to introduce the vaccine in Lebanon, Bahrain, Qatar, Egypt and Jordan while it is already available in Algeria and Morocco. “The incidence of cervical cancer is high in the Middle East because of a variety of factors: women get sexually active much earlier, heavy incidence of smoking and a high rate of fertility. So it is important to partner with health and educational institutions to get the message across a cross-section of people,” Dr. Wissam explained.
“Cervical cancer is a highly preventable form of cancer and the administration of the Gardasil vaccine in the age between 9-26 years can greatly reduce the rate of mortality among women. Studies have shown that the vaccine is particularly affective for women between 9-26 years and studies are still being conducted to establish its efficacy in the 26-45 years age-group. The highest incidence of cervical cancer is in the 35-55 years age group.”
The vaccine costs Dhs 622 and is available at all private health clinics and hospitals. “We are also trying to partner with the Ministry of Health to make it mandatory in the government hospitals in the UAE too,” Dr. Wissam explained. All women in the UAE above the age of 21 who are sexually active should be encouraged to undergo preventive screening every three years. The cancer is preventable but only if it’s diagnosed in the earlier stages.
It was recently announced that Professor Ian Frazer, Director of the University of Queensland’s Centre for Immunology and Cancer Research (CICR), Australia, has been nominated as a potential candidate for the Noble Prize Awards, due to his creation of the first and only vaccine against cervical cancer – Gardasil.
Gardasil is distributed by MSD in 50 countries around the world. “We are proud to have placed the UAE on the map with leading countries such as the US, Australia and EU,” Dr. Wissam said. Gardasil is a ready-to-use, three-dose vaccine and should be administered in three injections in the upper arm or upper thigh over a six-month period.
The following dosage schedule is recommended: first dose at elected date, second dose two months after the first dose, and the third dose should be administered six months after the first dose. The health care provider should inform the patient, parent or guardian that vaccination does not substitute routine cervical cancer screening. Women who receive Gardasil should continue to undergo cervical cancer screening.
MSD currently discovers, develops, manufactures and markets vaccines and medicines to address unmet medical needs. The company is dedicated to making medicines accessible through far-reaching programs that not only donate medicines but help deliver them to the people who really need them.
Source: ArabMedicare.com
