It is the second most common tumor in women .. The general supervisor of the Jeddah Program for Early Detection of the Cervix of the Dr. Basalama Chair for Gynecological Oncology at King Abdulaziz University, Professor Khaled bin Hussein Sit, explained that the aim of launching the program is to educate women about the importance of conducting a "Pap smear" To monitor any changes that may occur as a result of infection with the papilloma virus that predisposes to the occurrence of cervical cancer, and the rate of infection with this disease is close to 1.3 per 001 thousand women.

Sit said in a special interview with "Okaz" that the absence of health awareness among most women and their poor awareness of the importance of early examination has led to the discovery of many cases of injuries in late stages, calling on all women in Jeddah to benefit from the preventive program through direct registration and without the need for a file. A medical doctor at the university hospital .. and this text is:

• In the beginning, what are the most important objectives of the Jeddah Program for Early Cervical Detection and the registration steps?

The Jeddah Program for Early Detection of the Cervix is ​​one of the activities of Professor Basalama''s Chair of Gynecological Oncology at King Abdulaziz University. It is a preventive and awareness-raising program that aims at early detection of women from 30 to 65 years old, and urges them to have an annual examination of the cervix to detect the tumor at an early date, and also for everyone who passed by She was married for three years, and the center provides its services for free and does not require the presence of a file in the hospital, with the assurance that early detection promotes recovery, and that periodically neglecting the Pap smear procedure paves the way for discovering cases at late stages.

Annual examination

• What is the status of cervical cancer in the Kingdom?

Cervical cancer ranks 13th among women in the Kingdom, and it is ranked second among those aged 15-44 years, and the incidence of it is recorded at 1.3 per 100,000 women, as 152 new cases are recorded every year, and 55 deaths, and it is expected that the incidence of this disease will increase to 309 new cases and 117 deaths in 2025 AD, if there is no more efforts to fight this disease, provide means of prevention and the need to raise awareness among women and urge them to conduct annual cervical screening for early detection of cervical cancer.

Awareness of female doctors

• A study was conducted to monitor the awareness of female doctors, especially female obstetricians, about cervical cancer .. What are the results of this study?

The study that I conducted through a questionnaire that included 200 married female doctors, or those who were previously married, and their average age was 36 years from (22 to 59) years, and the female doctors were divided into two parts, one that includes obstetricians and gynecologists, and another included female doctors from all specialties about the information And their experiences about cervical cancer, periodic examination and ways to prevent it. The results also showed that 76 percent of female physicians have full knowledge that HPV is related to cervical cancer, and that 44 percent possess knowledge that cervical cancer is curable, and 91 percent of Female physicians are aware that a cervical smear prevents cervical cancer, and 39 per cent of female doctors know when to take a “smear” and for whom they are subjected to periodic cervical examination. The study also revealed that 35 per cent of female doctors perform Pap smears for their patients, and 28 per cent 100% of female doctors swab themselves, 48% of female doctors have heard about vaccination against the virus that causes cervical cervix, 50% advise patients to be vaccinated, 47% have their daughters vaccinated and 42% indicated their willingness to receive the vaccine.

Papillomavirus

• Is it clear from your speech that there is a close relationship between papillomavirus (HPV) and cervical cancer?

Yes, this is true. Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer in women, and about 500 thousand new infections are discovered annually, and 231 thousand deaths around the world.

In the mid-nineties, new evidence was found indicating that the human papillomavirus (HPV) causes cervical cancer, and this evidence called for several studies and clinical trials to develop a vaccine that protects against cervical cancer, as well as knowing the relationship between HPV and cancer. The cervix encouraged more research on how to prevent cervical cancer through primary prevention or vaccination, in addition to periodic testing for the virus and making a Pap smear.

The concept of cancer

What is cancer .. What is the difference between a benign and a non-benign tumor?

The cells of the body grow in normal conditions and divide when the body needs to do so, and when these cells grow and reach a certain extent, they begin to disappear and die and are replaced by new cells, and sometimes there is an imbalance in the normal process, so the cells begin to divide without the body needing them without dying Old cells whose life span has expired, and cells that are in excess of the body''s need begin to form a mass of abnormal tissue, which is the tumor, and in this case this tumor is either benign or malignant (cancerous), and in fact a cancerous tumor is more dangerous, because it does not stop dividing And it begins to attack the neighboring organs and eliminate them, and it spreads to other places and organs of the body to form many carcinomas in different parts of the body.