Scope and TogetHER for Health join forces to fight cervical cancer

More than 3,200 women die from cervical cancer in Kenya every year. It is the second most frequent cancer among women in Kenya and the most frequent cancer among women between 15 and 44 years of age.*

A major obstacle to cervical cancer’s elimination is a low level of awareness of the disease among Kenyan women and low awareness of the role of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine in preventing cervical cancer. In addition, many Kenyan women lack access to screening and treatment, which results in cervical cancer cases reaching an advanced stage before, and if they are detected. This leads to disproportionately higher death rates from the disease compared to countries with greater access to cancer screening and care for women.

To address prevailing issues surrounding one of the most preventable and curable forms of cancer, Scope is launching a Cervical Cancer Prevention project in Kenya with TogetHER for Health. The project will work with community organisations and activists to co-design a creative communications campaign and influence model for cervical cancer awareness that can be scaled within Kenya and across East Africa. The work will directly feed into efforts to eliminate cervical cancer in Kenya as part of the World Health Organisation’s Global Strategy to Accelerate the Elimination of Cervical Cancer, which was launched last November.

“Cervical cancer is a long-neglected issue. We have been advocating and supporting partners in this field for many years and are excited to get to work with TogetHER for Health on eliminating this preventable disease that kills more than 300,000 women globally every year,” explained Mari Tikkanen, Scope’s Interim CEO and Co-Founder.

Dr Heather White, Executive Director at Together for Health, said:

“TogetHER for Health is thrilled to partner with Scope Impact to support cervical cancer elimination in Kenya. This is an urgent health issue. By bringing together activists, health advocates and the broader community, we can increase awareness and bring life-saving cancer prevention services to more girls and women.”

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*HPV Information Centre, HPV Fact Sheet 2018