The Future
Game-Changing Opportunity
We’ve been working hard on an organizational initiative aimed at deploying extremely successful new technologies, including HPV testing and thermo-coagulation treatment. These will enable Grounds for Health, in collaboration with the global health community, to reach more women for cervical cancer screening and treatment through increased efficiencies and effectiveness. HPV testing will allow us to identify the women at highest risk for cervical cancer. This will result in fewer gynecological exams for women and make recruitment far less difficult. Thermocoagulation provides quicker and less stressful treatment and will be less costly than our current method over the long term.
If successful, our work will demonstrate a more effective path to reaching more women that can be adopted by other organizations worldwide.
Human Papillomavirus
From the World Health Organization:
- Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a group of viruses that are extremely common worldwide.
- There are more than 100 types of HPV, of which at least 13 are cancer-causing (also known as high risk type).
- HPV is mainly transmitted through sexual contact and most people are infected with HPV shortly after the onset of sexual activity.
- Cervical cancer is caused by sexually acquired infection with certain types of HPV.
- Two HPV types (16 and 18) cause 70% of cervical cancers and precancerous cervical lesions.
- There is also evidence linking HPV with cancers of the anus, vulva, vagina and penis.
- Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer in women living in less developed regions with an estimated 445 000 new cases in 2012 (84% of the new cases worldwide).
- In 2012, approximately 270 000 women died from cervical cancer; more than 85% of these deaths occurring in low- and middle-income countries.
20+ Years Experience
Since 1996, we’ve screened more than 232,536, treated over 19,103 women and trained 300+ community-based clinicians in seven countries. We helped pioneer the Single Visit Approach, which has become the gold standard in hard-to-reach places. The effectiveness of this approach is based on a simple premise: fewer women will be lost to follow-up care if they can receive treatment during the same visit in which they are screened.
It is now time to show that it is possible to use the newest screening and treatment technologies within a single visit. We cannot lose this critical part of the success of a program as new technologies are introduced. We at Grounds for Health have the ability to stay nimble as we innovate and share.