Large-scale cervical cancer event enters Guinness Book

HYDERABAD: Over 4,000 people attending a cervical cancer awareness programme — with another lakh people attending it online and 500 volunteers helping with logistics — created history and entered the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest such awareness event.

The previous record for the same was 1,919 people.

India has one of the highest numbers of cervical cancer cases in the world, with 75,000 to 80,000 new cases detected every year. However, experts said the number might be around 10 lakh due to a lack of awareness and access to vaccination.

Experts said that early diagnosis is the key to preventing deaths. In this regard, the Government of India is also planning an HPV vaccination programme across India to prevent cervical cancer. 

Chinnababu Sunkavalli, robotic surgical oncologist and clinical director at Yashoda Hospitals, Hitec city, and CEO of Grace Cancer Foundation said: “The human papillomavirus (HPV), the root cause of the cancer, is present in the genital tracts for years. About 90 per cent of infections caused by it are resolved without any ill effect, while the remaining may lead to cervical cancer. The only way to prevent this is to conduct large-scale screening camps and create awareness. Keeping the screening low cost or at no cost would invite large participation from women.”

He said: “Women between 25 and 30 years must get screened and if detected, they can be easily cured. The cancer is affecting women more in the age group of 40-64 years. The efforts to prevent this are almost nil.”