Authorities must take measures to prevent deaths from cervical cancer

Nearly 5,000 women die of cervical cancer each year in Bangladesh while 8,000 women are infected with cervical cancer during the same period, health experts, referring to International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) data, disclose the figures.
Cervical cancer is a curable disease if it is detected at an early stage. Vaccination and stopping early child marriage could prevent the risk of cervical cancer. The health expert laid emphasis on launching a massive campaign across the country to create awareness among the people about cervical cancer. According to the World Health Organization, worldwide, cervical cancer is the fourth most frequent cancer in women with an estimated 604,000 new cases in 2020. Of the estimated 342,000 deaths from cervical cancer in 2020, about 90 per cent of these occur in low- and middle-income countries.
Cancer treatment arrangement could not be arranged in a planned way due to the absence of comprehensive research and a database on this fatal disease in the country. While there is a need for making state-of-the-art treatment for all cancer patients affordable, maintaining a balanced lifestyle should be at the core of cancer prevention.
Our main problem is non-diagnosis, and Covid-19 has thrown everything into a more critical state. Unfortunately, there are only 24 radiotherapy machines in the country, which needs at least 80 more. Experts said the government cannot arrange all of these alone. There should be collaboration with the private health sector to reduce the financial burden on patients.
Overwhelming evidence shows that particle pollution in the outdoor air we breathe-like that coming from vehicle exhaust, coal-fired power plants and other industrial sources-can cause lung cancer. Each of us can significantly reduce our cancer risk by not smoking, avoiding harmful UV radiation, maintaining a healthy weight, cutting down on red and processed meat, eating more fruit and vegetables and being physically active.