(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) As the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) continues to battle lifestyle- related diseases, Jamaica is the first Member State to benefit from three colposcopes donated by the Government of Spain to boost the country’s capacity to detect early signs of cervical cancer.
This special microscope used to detect signs of cervical cancer will be presented to the eight Member States which were represented at the training in Jamaica: Antigua and Barbuda, the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, Dominica, Belize, Haiti, Montserrat, St Kitts and Nevis as well as Jamaica. The presentation was made on Friday (19 June, 2009) at the closing ceremony of a five-day training of regional gynaecologists and obstetricians in Colposcopy.
This training, organized by the CARICOM Secretariat in collaboration with the University of the West Indies, is the first phase of a four phase project fully supported by the Government of Spain, as part of the CARICOM / Spain Cooperation Project on the Support for the Prevention and Control of Cervical Cancer in the CARICOM Region. Miss Marta Mendez Diaz, Deputy Head of Mission, Embassy of Spain, Jamaica, in presenting the colposcopes noted that the region’s sustainability was hinged on its health as was underscored in the CARICOM Nassau Declaration: The Health of the Region is the Wealth of the Region. Noting that the Region had one of the highest rates of cervical cancer in the world, she reiterated her government’s commitment to supporting the fight against cervical cancer and expressed hope that the gynaecologists and obstetricians who were trained would relay the knowledge and skills they had acquired to others and would use those skills in helping to reduce the incidence of cervical cancer in their country.
UWI Professor Horace Fletcher, Course Facilitator, who accepted the colposcopes on behalf of Jamaica, explained the functions of the microscope noting that it would be used to examine the cervix and the tissues of the vagina and vulva thoroughly to be able to detect premalignant lesions and malignant lesions in those areas.
He told participants at the closing ceremony that the colposcopes would be allocated in areas of critical need and was optimistic that there would be a reduction in the high incidence of cervical cancer in Jamaica in the ensuing years. More than ten gynaecologists and obstetricians – the majority of whom were females – received certificates as certified trainers in colposcopy. They will be required to facilitate training of health personnel in the appropriate procedures, within their country, during implementation of the second phase of the project, which will focus on In-country training interventions.
Phases three and four of the project will see the documentation and dissemination of the recommended protocols for the early detection and treatment of cervical cancer, including colposcopy as well as the sourcing and acquisition of the required equipment for designated medical institutions.
The second leg of the Training-of-Trainers intervention will take place in Trinidad and Tobago on 22-26 June 2009.
The series of interventions was designed in response to the urgent need for trained health personnel to support the implementation of organized programmes for Cervical Cancer prevention and control in the Caribbean. The training of Trainers Workshop is therefore regarded as the most appropriate way to achieve greater results in less time and is expected to improve national capacity in diagnosis and build human resources necessary to implement the programme.
