I have been invited to participate in a training program in Dakar, Senegal with the goal of educating doctors, nurses and other health care workers in techniques aimed at early detection of cervical cancer precursors and in techniques of treatment of lesions if they are found. The request has come to me through my participation in international projects similar to this through ASCCP and other NGOs. The Senegalese Society for Colposcopy and Papillomavirus
Pathology (SSCPP) reached out to the ASCCP to put together a program of 3 days of teaching, including a curriculum of lectures case reviews and hands on teaching of Visual Inspection with Acetic Acid, Colposocpy and LEEP procedures - all aimed at prevention of cervical cancer. As a fluent French speaker, part of my participation in this team is to deliver lectures in French and aid with medical interpretation as needed.
This request from the SSCPP follows the World Health Organization goal of eliminating global cervical cancer by vaccinating 90% of the female target population, screening 70%, and offering effective treatment for cervical cancer and pre-cancer to 90%.
Currently, cervical cancer is the most common cancer of women in Senegal (rate of 36.3 per 100,000) with a mortality rate of 26. Only 9% of women aged 30-65 have ever been screened. (2023 data)
The goal is that women of Senegal will benefit from our project. High quality and effective training of medical personnel in the country will have the "ripple" effect of widening screening, making treatment of pre-cancerous lesions more widespread. It is my hope that this will be an ongoing collaboration between the two societies and that we will be able to continue to support them through distance learning even after the training. This particular population of medical staff have reached out to us, indicating a willingness and desire to participate in the reduction of this highly preventable disease in their country
"Training the trainers" is a model that has been highly effective in other countries and health systems. When there are adequately trained health care workers, they will be able to take these skills to more remote areas of the country and improve population education and treatment. It is my hope that our outreach will be ongoing through models of remote learning, case based learning and support.
When more women are screened and appropriately treated, morbidity and mortality from cervical cancer is reduced - this has been shown effective in many countries over the last decades. Cost effective and attainable screening and treatment goals is a first step to making this happen.
I was invited to be part of the teaching team this past June, through an invitation from ASCCP, to Dakar, Senegal for the “First International Course on Colposcopy and Cervicovaginal Pathology". The Course was both well attended and well received, with participants from at least 7 African countries, encompassing gynecologists, pathologists, oncologists and midwives. We used both a lecture format and hands on teaching with LEEP models and thermoablation apparatus to round off the course.
In the process of the course, I learned quite a bit about the enthusiasm, willingness and projects involved in the elimination of Cervical Cancer in this sub-Saharan country. They are very well aware of the barriers to the elimination goal and this course was part of several enterprises to address this. My fluent French came quite in handy as the majority of the learners were primarily French speakers and I was able to serve as an interpreter for the rest of the team. I remain humbled by the intelligence and hard work that the “SOCIETE SENEGALAISE DE COLPOSCOPIE ET DE PATHOLOGIE LIEE AU PAPILLOMAVIRUS (SSCPP) is doing for it’s population and look forward to a strong liaison with them
