By Fatima Kpaka
UNFPA Representative, Ms. Nadia Rasheed and the Chargé d’Affairs of the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China, Mr. Li Xiaoyong, on Friday, August, 19, visited the King Harman Maternal and Child Health Hospital and the Ross Road Community Health Centre, two of nine health facilities in the country providing cervical cancer screening and treatment services with support from the Government of China and UNFPA.
Speaking during the tour, Ms. Rasheed appreciated the partnership between UNFPA and China, highlighting the critical support being provided to reach women at high risk of maternal mortality and cervical cancer together with the Ministry of Health and Sanitation.
UNFPA is working with the Ministry of Health and Sanitation in the prevention and treatment of cervical cancer, a major cause of mortality among women, particularly in low and middle-income countries. According to data from the cancer registry, cervical cancer is the 2nd most frequent cancer among women in Sierra Leone, with 504 women diagnosed in 2021 and 367 deaths.
Through the South-South Cooperation Assistance Fund, China partners with UNFPA in supporting Sierra Leone’s drive to end preventable maternal deaths by improving access to quality maternal health care, establishing services and improving health seeking behaviour for cervical cancer.
Through this support, cervical cancer screening and treatment services have been established at nine health facilities across the country and are expected to benefit almost 430,000 women. The facilities include the Princess Christian Maternity Hospital, Jui Chinese Friendship Hospital, King Harman Maternal and Child Health Hospital, the Bo and Makeni Government hospitals, and Lakka Ogoo Farm, Murray Town, Ross Road, and Regent Community Health Centres.
“With support from the People’s Republic of China, UNFPA and the Ministry of Health and Sanitation trained fifty health care providers on cervical cancer screening and treatment in 2021, and procured essential equipment to strengthen screening and treatment. Over the last year, 1,736 women have been screened for cervical cancer and thousands of women have been reached with information on sexual and reproductive health including cervical cancer,” Ms. Rasheed said.
On behalf of the Government of the People’s Republic of China, Mr. Li Xiaoyong expressed delight that cervical cancer screening and treatment services have been established in nine facilities and pledged China’s continued commitment to support the health sector in Sierra Leone, particularly towards provision of quality services including cervical cancer screening and treatment.
Dr. Francis Moses, Programme Manager, Reproductive Health and Family Planning at the Ministry of Health and Sanitation thanked the Government of the People’s Republic of China for the support provided through UNFPA. Cervical Cancer screening and treatment services, he said, have been established in public health facilities in Sierra Leone for the first time, only after receiving this support. “We have been able to save many lives because the services are now available,” Dr. Moses said.
In 2018, China committed US$2 million through the South-South Cooperation Assistance Fund to reduce maternal deaths and prevent and treat cervical cancer in Sierra Leone.