Cervical cancer and its control in Nigeria

Cervical cancer is a major public health problem of women in low income countries like Nigeria. Globally 1.4 million women live with the disease and 7 million people may have precancerous changes. Eighty percent of the 493,000 annual new cases and 80-85% of annual deaths from cervical cancer occur in Low Income Countries (LIC) having less than 5% of the global cancer resources. In Nigeria 9,922 cases are diagnosed annually and 8,030 die. These figures will increase by about 25% in 10 years. The incidence rate ranging from 25 to 30 per 100,000 women is 5-6 times higher than the incidence in High Income Countries. Affected women come with advanced disease posing great challenge to the struggling health system. The disease is considered a ‘Sexually Transmitted disease’ with Human Papillomavirus (HPV) as the necessary cause. Nigerian women of all ages have a high HPV prevalence of 26.3% due to many determinants and co-factors like early sexual debut, multiple sex partners, low condom use, high parity, high incidence of other Sexually Transmitted Infections including HIV, poverty and illiteracy.This book will serve as guide for planners of national policy on cervical cancer prevention