Giving Compass' Take:

• Severine Caluwaerts recounts her experience at Doctors Without Borders saving women's lives in Africa with widespread cervical cancer screening.

• How often do treatable diseases go unnoticed for too long in low-income settings? What can you do to support the foundation clinics in areas that need them most?

• Learn more about life-saving teams at Doctors Without Borders.


Cervical cancer kills hundreds of thousands of women each year, despite being highly preventable and curable. On International Women's Day, Belgian obstetrician and gynaecologist Séverine shares her experience treating women with cervical cancer – and why we must speak out about this deadly but silent killer.

In 2018, 311,000 women died of cervical cancer. These were mainly women living in low-income settings with limited financial, cultural or geographical access to quality medical care.

The figure is projected to increase in the coming years, yet the world is largely silent about these deaths.

The worst part is that preventive tools, including human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination and treatment like cryotherapy (freezing of the cervix), are available and, in the case of the latter, affordable.

Last July, I travelled to Zimbabwe where MSF is managing a cervical cancer screen-and-treat programme in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Child Care. The screening is integrated into six clinics where women also receive family planning, HIV testing and treatment if needed.

The team screened 5,751 women in Gutu district last year and we’ve now reached 75 percent of the women in the catchment area.

Last year in Gutu MSF also carried out an HPV school vaccination campaign for 9- to 10-year-old girls, and supplied vaccines for 1,000 HIV-positive girls and young women aged 15-26.

This vulnerable patient population now has a very good chance of life-long protection against this deadly disease.

So, by vaccinating young girls and by providing on the spot screening and treatment, we give more than just hope – we prevent cervical cancer from developing – so more women like Maura have a chance to survive.

But so much more needs to be done.

Read the full article about screening for cervical cancer and saving lives by Severine Caluwaerts at Doctors Without Borders.