For the second year running, the non-profit organisation O'YES and the consortium of Walloon hospitals are launching a campaign to raise awareness of cervical cancer screening in Brussels and Wallonia, they announced on Monday.
In Belgium, cervical cancer affects 650 women a year. Regular screening can reduce the incidence and mortality associated with this cancer by 90%.
However, doctors note that only 50% of Belgian women regularly have smear tests. Yet this is a procedure that takes very little time, is reimbursed every three years and has the potential to significantly reduce the number of cervical cancers, or to identify them in the early stages.
"Cervical cancer kills 200 Belgian women every year, most of them at a young age. The treatments are tough and systematically affect their fertility and sexuality," explains Professor Frédéric Kridelka, Director of the Department of Gynaecology and Obstetrics at Liège University Hospital and spokesperson for the project.
The cure rate is only 60%. It is also the fourth most common cancer in women aged between 24 and 44. The main cause of cervical cancer is human papillomaviruses, more commonly known as HPV. In fact, they are responsible for 99% of these cancers.
Diseases caused by this virus affect 25,000 people a year in Belgium. From 13 March, a major awareness-raising campaign aimed at women aged 25 to 64 will be running simultaneously in Brussels and Wallonia, in the form of posters and radio and television adverts.
More information can be found on the Dépistage du Cancer du Col and Les-HPV.be websites.
