PRECERCA: Prevention of Cervical Cancer
Cancer cervix is the second leading cause of cancer related mortality among Indian women. The numbers of newly diagnosed women with cervical cancer are 1,23,907 and about 77,348 women die from this disease every year. Visual inspection of the cervix with acetic acid and Pap test have been the two main modalities of traditional cervical cancer screening so far. Recently, several HPV testing- based screening strategies have been adopted in India as a primary screening test, based on current WHO recommendations due to improved diagnostic accuracy. Even though prevention through HPV vaccines is recommended, it is still not well accepted in India. Irrespective of HPV vaccination, women must continue with screening. Hence a springboard for scaling up affordable and sustainable cervical cancer screening services from primary health centres is required, in order to be able to reach global targets by 2030.
Access to cervical cancer screening remains a major problem in rural areas and amongst working women, especially among the Tea Garden Workers who have lack of awareness as well as lack of time due to their busy work schedule. The overall lack of systematic screening results in women living in these areas from being devoid of early detection of cervical cancer. We are proposing a screen and treat strategy, on the same day using HPV DNA testing by gene Xpert technology which has been successful in some other settings too and is being increasingly used in several projects globally. It is an innovative project encompassing longitudinal screening in the uphills of Himalayas so that every woman gets access to healthcare service.
Approximately, 1,00,000 women work in North Bengal Tea garden alone in the foothills of the Himalayas. KolGO Trg is committed to work towards the WHO Elimination goal for cervical cancer 2030. PRECERCA is our project to improve cancer awareness and bring the one stop HPV screen and treat technology for cervical screening at the workplace for women in these remote tea gardens.
PRECERCA TRAINING AND WORKSHOPS:-
Currently our programme is associated with five tea gardens of North Bengal: Newchumta TE, Paharghoonia TE, Atal TE, Kiran Chandra TE, and Makaibari TE. A total of 17 camps have been done so far. We are very thankful to the tea garden associates for their continued support.
Origin of Proposal
The Tea Garden and It’s Workers
Suraksha Office, Siliguri (For Data Management and Lab facility)
Siliguri Institute of Technology Nurse Training and Involvement
Garden Workers Awareness and Screening
Patient and public Involvement
Precerca Workshop: Stakeholder meeting- Mayfair Siliguri
Ending:
We all love tea and we care for the working women who make this possible. Please join us in this effort to close the cancer gap. Every cup of Tea helps
PRECERCA Details Click here