Q&A: Cervical cancer in the Republic of Guinea

Professor Bangaly Traoré is the coordinator of the national cancer control programme in the Republic of Guinea. In this interview, we discuss the importance of vaccination against human papillomavirus, which can cause cervical cancer.

6 March 2023
2 min read
by Gavi Staff
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<article> <h1> <span>Q&A: Cervical cancer in the Republic of Guinea</span> </h1> <div><p>Professor Bangaly Traoré is the coordinator of the national cancer control programme in the Republic of Guinea. In this interview, we discuss the importance of vaccination against human papillomavirus, which can cause cervical cancer.</p> </div> <ul> <li> <b>6 March 2023</b> </li> <li> <b class="me-2">by</b> <span> <a href="https://www.gavi.org/vaccineswork/authors/gavi-staff" hreflang="en">Gavi Staff</a> </span> </li> </ul> <div> <div> <div> <div> <div> <p> </p> <h3>What is the impact of cervical cancer in your country?</h3> <p>Cervical cancer is the leading cause of cancer mortality and morbidity in the Republic of Guinea. It is estimated that there are more than 2,000 new cases annually and more than 1,800 deaths, which represents four to five deaths per day in our country.</p> <h3>Why do you think the HPV vaccine is important?</h3> <p>Guinea is one of the countries with a very high prevalence of human papillomavirus infection. Vaccinating against this virus will greatly reduce the incidence of cervical cancer in the Republic of Guinea.</p> <blockquote> <h2>"Cervical cancer is the leading cause of cancer mortality and morbidity in the Republic of Guinea."</h2> </blockquote> <h3>What are the challenges in strengthening demand for this vaccine?</h3> <p>The challenge will be to advocate at government level, and mobilise resources to make vaccines available, and also to raise awareness for the population’s adherence to HPV vaccination.</p> <div><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hKQb_hIgEZY?rel=0" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></div> <h3>Why is there distrust of this vaccine in Guinea?</h3> <p>Vaccination has not yet started, but what we notice are the socio-cultural barriers. We must overcome these considerations: we must talk about side effects and their management, and the safety of the vaccine for the people.</p> <div> <h4>Read more</h4> <ul> <li><a href="https://www.gavi.org/vaccineswork/world-track-eliminate-cervical-cancer" rel="bookmark" title="Cervical cancer killed 340,000 women in 2020, underlining urgency of HPV vaccine rollout"><span>Cervical cancer killed 340,000 women in 2020, underlining urgency of HPV vaccine rollout</span></a></li> <li><a href="https://www.gavi.org/vaccineswork/one-dose-hpv-vaccine-produces-long-lasting-immune-response-shows-study" rel="bookmark" title="One dose of HPV vaccine produces a long-lasting immune response, shows study"><span>One dose of HPV vaccine produces a long-lasting immune response, shows study</span></a></li> <li><a href="https://www.gavi.org/vaccineswork/five-charts-15-years-hpv-vaccine" rel="bookmark" title="Five charts on 15 years of the HPV vaccine"><span>Five charts on 15 years of the HPV vaccine</span></a></li> </ul> </div> <h3>Why is vaccine advocacy and mobilisation important?</h3> <p>Advocacy will allow political commitment from the executive to mobilise resources at national and international level, which will make it possible to establish partnerships to make the vaccine available. At the level of the population it is, above all, necessary to mobilise local, socio-cultural stakeholders, influencers, to raise awareness and ensure social mobilisation, so that children aged nine to 15 are vaccinated against [human] papillomavirus.</p> <h3>What role can civil society organisations play?</h3> <p>Civil society organisations will create demand. They are the beneficiaries of these vaccination programmes. They will advocate at government level, and also support the implementation of vaccination programmes at community level.</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <p> <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.gavi.org/vaccineswork/qa-cervical-cancer-republic-guinea">Original article</a> </p><p>This article was originally published on <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.gavi.org/vaccineswork">VaccinesWork</a> </p><script>(function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start': new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0], j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src= 'https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f); })(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-M7H54VD');</script><noscript><iframe src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-M7H54VD" height="0" width="0" style="display:none;visibility:hidden"></iframe></noscript></article>

Professor Bangaly Traoré

What is the impact of cervical cancer in your country?

Cervical cancer is the leading cause of cancer mortality and morbidity in the Republic of Guinea. It is estimated that there are more than 2,000 new cases annually and more than 1,800 deaths, which represents four to five deaths per day in our country.

Why do you think the HPV vaccine is important?

Guinea is one of the countries with a very high prevalence of human papillomavirus infection. Vaccinating against this virus will greatly reduce the incidence of cervical cancer in the Republic of Guinea.

"Cervical cancer is the leading cause of cancer mortality and morbidity in the Republic of Guinea."

What are the challenges in strengthening demand for this vaccine?

The challenge will be to advocate at government level, and mobilise resources to make vaccines available, and also to raise awareness for the population’s adherence to HPV vaccination.

Why is there distrust of this vaccine in Guinea?

Vaccination has not yet started, but what we notice are the socio-cultural barriers. We must overcome these considerations: we must talk about side effects and their management, and the safety of the vaccine for the people.

Why is vaccine advocacy and mobilisation important?

Advocacy will allow political commitment from the executive to mobilise resources at national and international level, which will make it possible to establish partnerships to make the vaccine available. At the level of the population it is, above all, necessary to mobilise local, socio-cultural stakeholders, influencers, to raise awareness and ensure social mobilisation, so that children aged nine to 15 are vaccinated against [human] papillomavirus.

What role can civil society organisations play?

Civil society organisations will create demand. They are the beneficiaries of these vaccination programmes. They will advocate at government level, and also support the implementation of vaccination programmes at community level.