Cervical cancer prevention is the need of the hour in India. Here’s why it calls for regular screenings

Using protection while having sex not only prevents you from an unwanted pregnancy, but also helps in keeping away the risk of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) like HPV or human papillomavirus.

This common sexually-transmitted infection can either result in genital warts or show no symptoms. Oh, but it can get worse too—as it can give you cervical cancer.

About 34,800 new cancer diagnoses are linked to HPV annually, according to the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC). While cervical cancer presents a significant global health burden, Ireland has taken a crucial step towards cervical cancer prevention.

Ireland will be one of the first countries to introduce human papillomavirus (HPV) testing as part of a woman’s regular cervical check in an attempt to help eliminate women dying from cervical cancer. There is a need for such measures in India as well as the cases of cervical cancer in India are only increasing.

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According to a study, published in the Lancet Global Health, India recorded the highest estimated number of cervical cancer deaths in 2018. Other than this, every year 1,22,844 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer and 67,477 die from the disease (estimates for 2012), as per the National Health Portal India.

Also, read: Can you protect yourself from cervical cancer? Take this quiz and we’ll tell you

The problem with cancers caused by HPV is that its symptoms don’t show until the cancer is in later stages of growth. Hence, it is important to diagnose HPV-related health issues using regular screenings as early diagnosis could possibly increase chances of survival.