Presented by oncologist Renato Marinho to Mayor Sheila Lemos on Thursday (5), the Green January campaign in Vitória da Conquista, which aims to raise awareness and alert the population about cervical cancer, had the participation of the town hall made official in a meeting this Monday (9 ), at the office of the SMS, the creator of the project in Vitória da Conquista and the Health Secretariats (SMS); Education (Smed); Culture, Tourism, Sport and Leisure (Sectel) and Communication (Secom).
The project will start this month and will last until March, with actions by the Municipality and the private sector, including educational, informational and professional training activities, involving the schools and social-health networks of the Municipality.
According to Dr. Renato Marinho, the goal is quite simple and ambitious: to make Vitória da Conquista a national reference in the fight against cervical cancer, 2nd for causes of death in women in the municipality. “So here we are joining forces to bring a pioneering project. We are not inventing the wheel, we are putting this wheel to really move, so that we can achieve positive results, taking advantage of this moment of worldwide mobilization to fight cervical cancer, which is Green January”, highlighted the oncologist .
In this Tuesday’s meeting, the actions that could be implemented by each secretariat were aligned, giving priority to the promotion of HPV vaccination in the target audience – girls aged 9 to 11 and boys aged 11 to 14 -, in addition to the actions education on ways to prevent and fight the disease and training of health professionals and teachers of the municipal network.
As for the municipal health network, Secretary Ramona Cerqueira said that the SMS will intensify routine work trying to improve cancer screening, through preventive gynecological examinations and vaccination of children in the age range. “Many people still don’t understand the importance of early immunization, but in the long run we will have the result of this work, as we will save the lives of many women in their 20s and 30s from a disease that, today, is one of the main causes of death in young women,” Ramona stressed.
For the Secretary of Education, Professor Edgar Larry, “it shouldn’t be a green January, but a green year, because the scope of a project of this type, if well implemented, goes beyond what we imagine”. According to him, the idea is to think of a pilot project, with a pedagogical strategy with the school community. “We are open and willing, because we understand that education is a pillar, but without health it doesn’t work fully,” Larry stressed.
About cervical cancer
Cervical cancer, also called cervical cancer, is caused by persistent infection with certain types of human papillomavirus (HPV). In Vitória da Conquista, in 2021, 73 women were diagnosed with this type of cancer. According to data from the Epidemiological Surveillance, the disease appears in 2nd place among the causes of death in women in the municipality.
The demand for the HPV vaccine in the municipality has been declining year on year and even more so during the pandemic. In 2022, only 4,787 children aged 10-14 were vaccinated against HPV, which equates to just 7% of the target audience of approximately 30,000 children in this age group. The vaccine is available free of charge in all health units for girls aged 9 to 11 and boys aged 11 to 14.
