Abstract |
Two years before the deadline set for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG), Colombia is experiencing a steady decline in the incidence and mortality rates of cervical cancer during the 2000-2010 decade. During this time, the mortality rate decreased significantly for women of all ages (11.4% in 1998 - 6.9 in 2011; goal for 2015: 6.8%) and the ratio of in-situ cases detected in time increased (63.31% in 2012). Colombia perceives cancer as a public health problem and managed to include it in the public agenda. Similarly, the changes in the population's knowledge and self-care practices resulted in increased prognosis among patients. In spite of these advances, the Country continues focusing its efforts on reducing incidence and mortality rates, increasing levels of technology, promoting further development in the regions and substantially improving woman's right to be protected against this disease via full access to screening programs and treatments for cervical cancer. Finally, the Country also focuses on wider inclusion of the HPV vaccine with an interval of 5 years, as it has more potential, especially for younger women. The main question today is how to accelerate this progress for other MDG indicators by 2015 and how to provide enough examples of effective and appropriate strategies along with evidence of experiences in a Latin American context. |