Taking to the Airwaves in Mexico

Since Grounds for Health’s first campaign in Mexico, one of our key goals has been to educate communities about cervical cancer prevention. Unlike Tanzania, both Nicaragua and Mexico have had cytology-based screening programs in place for a number of years, and thus there was already some awareness of these services when our program started.

However, very few people—even doctors—had the facts right. Some of the most common myths we encountered in Mexico and Nicaragua: when you have a pap test, the doctor removes your uterus; all people who contract HPV will get cancer; women should get screened every six months; all pre-cancerous lesions require expensive diagnostic tests and invasive treatment such as colposcopy and cone biopsy; screening is appropriate for women of all ages, including the very young and very old.

One of the biggest challenges Grounds for Health has faced in Mexico is misinformation. To combat myths and rumors about cervical cancer and the most effective ways to prevent it, Grounds for Health has developed a few very simple key messages that are central to the World Health Organization’s recommendations. As we close out the cervical cancer prevention program in Chiapas and transition ownership to local partners, our intern in the field, Emma Goodstein worked with in-country staff Dr. Lupita Jovel and municipal health authorities to develop a radio spot based on these key messages. The public service announcement will air several times a day for thirty days.

Listen to the audio spot in Spanish below. An English translation is at the bottom of this page.

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Listen:

[ca_audio url=”https://groundsforhealth.org//wp-content/gallery/2012/08/SPOT-CANCER-EN-LA-MATRIZ.mp3″]

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Transcript:

El cancer del cuello de la matriz es una de las principales causas de muerte en mujeres en los paises como Mexico.

La buena noticia es que ninguna mujer debe morir de cancer de la matriz ya que es curable si se detecta a tiempo.

Hay una prueba y un tratamiento sencillo y seguro para prevenir antes de que sea cáncer.

Todas las mujeres entre 30 y 50 años de edad deben hacerse los estudios por lo menos una vez en su vida o cada tres anos.

Ni una mujer más debe morir del cáncer del cuello de la matriz.

Translation:

Cervical cancer is a major cause of death among women in countries like Mexico.

The good news is that no woman has to die of cervical cancer, as it is curable if detected early.

There is a test and a simple and safe treatment to prevent cancer, before it becomes cancer.

All women between 30 and 50 years old should get a screening test at least once in their life or every three years.

Not even one woman should die of cervical cancer.