Skopje, January 24, 2024 - Prevention saves lives. It is carried out through the process of screening and vaccination against the HPV virus, which causes cervical cancer.

Such a message was conveyed today in Skopje by representatives of professional associations, the National Immunization Committee, as well as United Nations representatives in the country, on the occasion of marking the cervical cancer prevention week, held every year from January 22 to 28.

"The number of new cervical cancer cases, as well as the number of deaths in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, is a staggering 10 times higher compared to countries in Western Europe," said Dr. Afrodita Shalja, UNFPA Head of Office in North Macedonia.

The media briefing was organized by the Macedonian Society for Cervical Pathology and Colposcopy, in collaboration with the Macedonian Association of Pathology and the Macedonian Association of Radiology and Oncology.

At the meeting, the presidents of the three associations spoke - Prof. Dr. Goran Dimitrov, Prof. Dr. Rubens Jovanovikj, and Prof. Dr. Violeta Klisarova, as well as the national immunization coordinator, Prof. Aleksandra Grozdanova, and the event also featured a speech by Dr. Anne Johansen, the Special Representative of the World Health Organization to North Macedonia.

"About 600,000 women are affected at the European level. Half of them lose the battle with the disease. Unfortunately, the incidence shows a heterogeneous distribution, mostly affecting developing countries, including our country. The distribution is also heterogeneous in terms of mortality, with the highest mortality rates occurring in developing countries”.

In North Macedonia, the incidence is somewhere along the lines of 20 new cases per 100,000 women, which is quite high compared to what we should strive towards - two to four new cases per 100,000 women," said the president of the Association of Radiology and Oncology, Dr. Violeta Klisarovska.

The president of the Association of Pathology, Dr. Rubens Jovanovikj, said that as a pathologist, he must emphasize the recent trend, especially post-COVID-19, that they are increasingly encountering surgical specimens showing highly advanced carcinomas in late stages during diagnostics.

The president of the Macedonian Medical Association and the Macedonian Society for Cervical Pathology and Colposcopy, Dr. Goran Dimitrov, said that since 2017, a working group has drafted a protocol outlining the gradual transition towards HPV becoming the primary screening method. He added that progress is being made in that regard and expressed hope that it will be realized.

UNFPA, as part of marking the week, conducted a social media campaign to raise awareness about this malignant condition, and the campaign also included a joint promotion with the World Health Organization.