Recently we came across a great video on VIA/Cryo and the Single Visit Approach, which the short segment calls “see and treat.” This BBC video focuses on the cervical cancer prevention work of an organization in Rwanda called UJAMAA Medical Connections.
This segment focuses on the same approach that Grounds for Health uses in its cervical cancer prevention programs in Mexico, Nicaragua and Tanzania. Similar to this organization, we train local doctors and nurses in simple life saving techniques (VIA and cryotherapy), so that they can continue screening and treating women at risk for cervical cancer.
We feel as though it’s important to note that this segment does not mention a component that Grounds for Health has found to be vital in the success of our programs: community involvement, ownership and education. In the Grounds for Health model, the coffee cooperatives and their members break down many of the barriers that stand between women and the care they need.
In the near future, we will be working on posts of our own that describe this involvement and show why it’s so effective.
Stats from 1st day of campaign: 66 women seen today. 16 positive for VIA 12 treated, 2 biopsies for invasive cancer, two will return tomorrow. We caught all three Pap positives with VIA confirming == as the NYT article states – it works quite well, including two Cancer in situs and 1 invasive cancer. Lives probably saved.
We recently received a note from our colleague, Dr. Ricky Lu of Jhpiego, regarding the WHO’s September 2011 Bulletin:
One bit of good news to share … I am attaching an article from the WHO Sept 2011 bulletin. The quote from Nathalie is quite relevant given the point of the letter we had sent to Lancet earlier this year. Just thought to let you know that some are hearing the message—start now with that we have!
“We should start to implement cervical cancer prevention and control programme with what is available, is not expensive and saves lives, such as VIA. Once you have the structure of a programme with all components in place, you can then improve the programme and consider changing the screening method with new ones that perform better and that will be, hopefully, soon on the market.”
The advantage of VIA is that women can be screened and treated at the same time. If abnormalities (precancerous lesions) are found on a woman’s cervix, they can be treated on the same day by freezing and destroying them with cryotherapy. Broutet says: “It’s very important to follow up with women who are screened positive. The single-visit approach decreases the risk of women forgetting or not being able to come back, as many live far away from health facilities. However, not all health facilities have cryotherapy equipment. In that case, active follow-up of these women will have to be done to ensure that they benefit from treatment.”
This groundbreaking meeting represented the first time a group of health experts from across Latin America came together to focus on the Single Visit Approach, which is a key component of Grounds for Health’s work. The group shared their successes, failures, and lessons learned in implementing this new approach.
August and Dr. Osejo were sure to bring the voice of the “woman at the end of the road” to the meeting, presenting our community-based approach to outreach and follow-up. By speaking about Grounds for Health’s experience in poor, rural settings, August and Dr. Osejo were able to shift the conversation beyond just what to do, but to how to make it work—to assure that programs reach all women at risk.
August walked away feeling that Grounds for Health is truly part of a larger community committed to ending unnecessary deaths from cervical cancer. Thanks to strong alliances with the Nicaragua Ministry of Health, and invitations from other Ministries of Health, we have a great opportunity to expand our model across the region.
In the end, this meeting showed the true collaborative effort that is emerging to address issues of cervical cancer. These partnerships are absolutely necessary if we are to have a meaningful impact in saving lives from the city to the farm.
Sometimes it’s the simple things make all the difference.
Here at Grounds for Health, we use the Single Visit Approach to screen for cervical cancer. Applying a vinegar wash on the cervix allows us to make a visual confirmation of potentially cancerous cells. This is known as visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA). If the lesions match our treatment criteria, we freeze off the cells using an effective and safe procedure called cryotherapy.
If you haven’t seen Jhpiego’s short video on the Single Visit Approach, take a couple minutes; it’s worth it. Vice President and Medical Director at Jhpiego and Grounds for Health Advisory Board member Dr. Harshad Sanghvi provides a succinct explanation of our methods. It is because of the important work of Dr. Sanghvi and his colleagues that Grounds for Health is making such great progress in coffee-growing countries. We couldn’t say it better ourselves, so we thought we’d let Harshad do the talking:
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