The debacle and conversation around cervical cancer has been at an all-time high in India, with Nirmala Sitharaman prioritising it in this year's Union Budget and Poonam Pandey faking her death, citing cervical cancer as the cause.
With 604,000 cases in 2020, cervical cancer ranks as the fourth most frequent malignancy among women, according to the World Health Organization. Low- and middle-income nations have witnessed roughly 90% of the 3,42,000 cervical cancer-related deaths, one of the primary risk factors for which is the Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection.
Talking to the OnlyMyHealth team, Prof Moitrayee Das, Assistant Professor of Psychology, FLAME University, Pune said, "HPV is a very common sexually transmitted infection that can damage the skin, genitalia, and throat. Sexually active people are likely to get infected with this virus at some point in their lives, usually without experiencing any symptoms."
Despite its magnanimous rate of prevalence, it is unfortunate and shocking that cervical cancer remains largely shrouded by myths and misinformation. Prof Das shed light on why this is the case.
Cervical Cancer Myths
"Cervical uterine cancer is the second most prevalent cause of death in India, accounting for 123,907 cases, and the third most common cancer overall, with an incidence rate of 18.3% as per GLOBOCAN 2020," said Prof Das. She shared that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, during the interim budget 2024-2025, said the government will encourage vaccination against HPV for girls aged 9-14, which leads to cervical cancer.
Despite this, the severity of the disease also comes with its own set of myths, misconceptions, and stigma, making its diagnosis, prevention, and treatment a huge challenge, said Prof Das.
She listed a few of the myths surrounding this disease:
- A regular pap test is enough to prevent the disease.
- HPV always leads to cervical cancer.
- Women with HPV will have warning symptoms.
- Pap and HPV testing are the only ways to prevent this disease.
- Once you are HPV vaccinated, you no longer need the Pap or HPV test.
Attribution of this disease to witchcraft, oral contraceptive use, divine punishment, or paying for past lives' mistakes negatively impacts treatment and attitudes towards the disease. Some of the main drivers of cervical cancer-related stigma are:
- Misinformation
- Ambiguous messaging and terminology, Religious and cultural beliefs
- The fact that it is a sexual health-related problem creates further stigma and stereotyping because of the sex taboo in many cultures
Why Do We Still Not Know About Cervical Cancer?
The fact that HPV is a Sexually Transmitted Infection makes its victims the subject of intense social stigma "The fact that people are character-shamed for being sexually active, having multiple sexual partners, and even being open about their sexual lives leads to shame, disgust, guilt, and self-blame for the person, and they are most likely to never talk about it, let alone seek help for the same," said Prof Das.
"The stigma towards cervical cancer is increased due to its association with HPV as a sexually transmitted infection, as well as the belief that women have not done their part to safeguard themselves from such diseases," she added.
She highlighted that it is important to understand that just having access, affordability, and quality of cervical cancer prevention services does not guarantee prevention or treatment. "The decision to utilise these services is heavily influenced by one’s knowledge, personal risk perception, and acceptability," she elucidated.
It is important to get rid of these stigmas as they will be a huge barrier for parents to actively encourage their children to receive HPV vaccination, even if the Indian government does fulfil its promise of rolling out HPV vaccination programmes.
Also Read: Cervical Cancer Awareness: Tips To Maintain Genital Hygiene To Prevent Or Manage HPV
Prof Das concluded that effective prevention of cervical cancer requires an HPV vaccine along with early and regular screening. To enhance these services, we must do our best as a society to advocate for the cause through the right information and empower people to make health their priority by reducing the various drivers of stigma.