“According to the Coordination Unit for the Implementation of Cervical Screening, cervical cancer, being the only completely preventable oncological disease, continues to be detected annually in the Republic of Moldova in about 300 women. At the same time, a positive trend is observed in identifying precancerous conditions or the disease in early stages, which allows for their successful treatment and prevention of the development of advanced cancer.” mentioned Diana Valuță, Head of the Coordination Unit for the Implementation of Cervical Screening within the IMSP Institute of Mother and Child.
A simple cytological test, performed every 3 years by every woman aged 25-61, can detect early changes in the cervix and preserve female health.
In this regard, during 2022, an information campaign will be carried out for women urging them to take the cytological test every 3 years, mainly in district and rural areas. Partnerships will be developed with the media, professional associations and the private sector to increase the addressability of the target population to the available cervical screening and anti-HPV vaccination services.
Based on a contribution granted by the Romanian state in 2021 through RoAid – The Romanian International Development Cooperation Agency, the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) together with national partners will carry out several actions to prevent cervical cancer among women in the Republic of Moldova.
An Agreement in this regard was concluded between the two organizations with the aim of strengthening the intervention capacities of the medical system and increasing efforts to inform the population.
At the same time, collaboration partnerships will be established between professional health associations in Romania and the Republic of Moldova and visits of professionals from the Republic of Moldova to Romania will be organized for the exchange of experience and the transfer of good practices in the field of cervical cancer prevention.
“As a partner of UNFPA Moldova, we are honored to be able to support cervical cancer prevention interventions in the Republic of Moldova, from which we hope to benefit as many women as possible. Health insurance is one of the sustainable development objectives that Romania promotes through international development cooperation, the Republic of Moldova continuing to be one of the main beneficiaries of official development assistance in various sectors, including facilitating access to quality health services,” said Mihai Sandu, Deputy Director General of RoAid.
In recent years, thanks to the support of development partners, including RoAid, the Republic of Moldova has made significant progress in the fight against cervical cancer. These include equipping cytology and histopathology laboratories with state-of-the-art equipment, training medical personnel, and creating the Cervical Screening Implementation Coordination Unit and the National Colposcopy Reference Center.
“Study on Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices in the field of cervical cancer prevention”, conducted in 2020, demonstrated that the share of women aged 25 to 61 who are aware of the importance of performing the cytology test increased from 47% in 2018 to 62% in 2020, and the share of women who performed the cytology test doubled during the reference period.
“The support provided by RoAid will amplify the results achieved so far and will allow us to expand cervical cancer prevention efforts at the national level. It is proven that HPV vaccination, cytological testing and treatment of precancerous lesions are key interventions that can reduce this disease to ZERO. We are grateful to our partners in Romania for supporting our common cause of eliminating cervical cancer from the lives of women in the Republic of Moldova”, said Nigina Abaszada, UNFPA Moldova Resident Representative.
