New Delhi: India bears one-fifth of the global burden of cervical cancer and the highest number of deaths.
in 2023, 123,000 Indian women were diagnosed with cervical cancer and almost 80,000 of them died.
Every seven minutes, one woman dies of cervical cancer in India.
Mridu Gupta, who heads a non-profit for cancer awareness, prevention, and early detection believes it to be a gendered crisis.
That is why we at Behenbox, sought to explore how gendered cancer care for women is and the additional barriers women face in a three-part series.
New Delhi: India bears one-fifth of the global burden of cervical cancer and the highest number of deaths. in 2023, 123,000 Indian women were diagnosed with cervical cancer and almost 80,000 of them died. These tragedies are unacceptable because, unlike most cancers that lack a clear cause, cervical cancer is caused by the human papilloma virus and there exists a vaccine to prevent HPV infections.
Every seven minutes, one woman dies of cervical cancer in India. Yet, screening rates remain abysmal, the HPV vaccine available for more than two decades is yet to be included in India’s free vaccination programme, and there is very little awareness about the disease, according to a report in Scroll.in.
Mridu Gupta, who heads a non-profit for cancer awareness, prevention, and early detection believes it to be a gendered crisis. “If it were a cancer that affected men and killed one man every seven minutes, do you think it would take so long for the [HPV] vaccine and the screening to be available for all of them?” Women’s health is simply not backed by political will, and there is no urgent effort to increase awareness,” she told Scroll.in.
Women with cancer also face more stigma, neglect and abandonment than men.
Women with cancer also face more stigma, neglect and abandonment than men. That is why we at Behenbox, sought to explore how gendered cancer care for women is and the additional barriers women face in a three-part series.
