DOH to screen cervical cancer using vinegar

MANILA, Philippines - Using vinegar, the Department of Health (DOH) has embarked on a program to screen some 30,000 women for cervical cancer for free this month.

Remedios Niola, DOH program manager for the Cervical Cancer Control and Prevention Program, said cervix is the second leading site for cancer among women.

In 2010, the prevalence rate for cervical cancer was 11.7 percent per 100,000 population. It is estimated that some 12 women die of this illness every day.

Niola said early diagnosis of cancer is important to combat the disease. In 2005, the DOH issued an administrative order, establishing cancer-screening facilities in its hospitals.

In line with the Cervical Cancer Awareness Month this May, the DOH will provide free screening using “visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA) or vinegar” in selected DOH-retained hospitals.

Dr. Rey de los Reyes, vice president of the Philippine Obstetrical and Gynecological Society Inc., said cervical cancer is highly preventable through vaccination if only diagnosed early.

De los Reyes added that from exposure to human papillomavirus (HPV), it usually takes 15 to 20 years before the cancer reaches the invasive level.

In the Philippines, however, most cervical cancer cases are detected late or when the disease is already in third stage.

De los Reyes said in developed countries, pap smear had helped reduced cases by 70 percent from 1940 when the procedure was recognized, to 2004.

But since pap smear is more expensive and not easily available in some parts of the country, Reyes said VIA is an effective option.

VIA is a testing procedure for cervical cancer that is recognized by the World Health Organization. It is much cheaper than pap smear, a modern screening method for cervical cancer.

VIA can be done by trained health care personnel by applying dilute vinegar to the cervix. Abnormal tissue turns white when exposed to vinegar, thus indicating cancer.

De los Reyes said that ideally, a woman should be screened for HPV three years after the first sexual contact. But vaccines can be administered to women as early as nine years old.

He said the most common strains of HPV are 16 and 18, accounting for 75 percent of all cases, and there are now vaccines available for these strains. – With Richy Escolar Chua