Cervical cancer in low‐income countries: A Bangladeshi perspective

Abstract

Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer among women worldwide, with approximately 70% of cases involving infection with human papillomavirus (HPV) genotypes 16 and 18. According to International Agency for Research on Cancer, more than 50 million Bangladeshi women are at risk of developing cervical cancer, and 17 686 new cases and 10 362 deaths occur annually. If diagnosed at the precursor stage, however, cervical cancer is a condition that can be successfully treated. As a result, screening programs are necessary to identify the disease before it progresses to invasive cancer. In the present review, we discuss the overall situation of cervical cancer in Bangladesh, summarizing the sociodemographic status of affected women, associated risk factors, screening approaches, and treatment options. We emphasize the potential of visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA) as a cost‐effective screening approach for detecting cervical lesions among poor women in the community. In a resource‐limited country such as Bangladesh, VIA may represent an ideal model to build an effective awareness campaign through urban and rural hospitals, community‐based clinics, and other health facilities available in industry.

Lack of knowledge is the leading key for the growing cervical cancer incidents in Bangladesh: A population based, cross-sectional study

“…More than 2.4 million female workers are employed in 4825 garment factories in Bangladesh. If the government and the garment industry authorities could jointly provide cytological screening like VIA testing in all garment factories, it would be a huge step towards widespread cervical cancer screening in Bangladesh [29].…”

Comprehensive Studies of Different Cancer Diseases among Less-Developed Countries

“…The detection of cancer is very difficult. In women, the most predominant type is cervical cancer, followed by breast cancer, with number of sexual partners, age, lack of sexual hygiene, and virus infection being the most common causes in less-developed countries, especially Bangladesh [ 60 , 61 ].…”

Assessing service availability and readiness to manage cervical cancer in Bangladesh

“…Like other LMICs, cervical cancer is the second most common cancer among females in Bangladesh (12% of female cancers), with 8068 new cases and 5214 deaths caused by it every year [ 10 – 13 ]. The existing cancer registry facility in Bangladesh is gradually being updated [ 14 ]. Through the National Cervical Cancer Control Program, the Government of Bangladesh (GOB) gradually developed cervical cancer screening facilities at all districts and Upazila levels – in about 400 centers.…”

“…The screening method adopted was Visual Inspection of Cervix with Acetic Acid (VIA) for women 30 years and above [ 11 ]. However, the nationwide screening coverage of cervical cancer is less than 10% [ 14 ].…”