KIGALI, Rwanda, Aug. 27, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Seraphine Mukandutiye, 50, is a Rwandan woman with a beautiful and glowing smile. But beneath her soft heart and warm smile, lies a deadly monster waiting to strike. She is battling a cervical cancer.
The preventable cancer results from a genital infection caused by a Human Papilloma Virus (HPV). Hundreds of Rwandan women are suffering from the silent killer, others have died.
The cancer is one of the major killers among women in Rwanda. Since 2011, 678 of 986 diagnosed with the cancer have died.
The high death rate raised a serious concern in the country. Rwanda's First Lady, Jeannette Kagame, has put her influence behind the national testing and immunization campaign.
Half a million women, of which 97% are school-going girls, have been administered with "Cervarix" vaccine, against the Virus.
More than 150.000 girls will receive the vaccine before end of 2014. Rwanda is the first and only African country rolling out a free vaccination and screening in collaboration with Merck, an American pharmaceutical company, Qiagen N.V, a Dutch pharmaceutical research company, World Health Organisation (WHO) and UNICEF.
Kethia Mutesi, a 15-year-old senior four high school science student at Lycee De Kigali, is one of the thousands of Rwandan girls who have taken the Cervarix shot. "I didn't know it was a prevention against that cancer," she says. "Thank God, I won't have the cancer."
The government says at least 2.72 million more school-going girls between the age of 11 and 15 are expected to be vaccinated by 2015. Women aged between 35 and 45 who test positive will receive free treatment.
The WHO says cervical cancer is a growing cause of high morbidity and mortality rates among women in Africa. About 280,000 cases have been diagnosed.
Health Minister, Dr. Agnes Binagwaho, says the Rwanda is investing in facilities and traning more medical staff to fight the cervical cancer, and other illnesses. "The new vaccine [Cervarix] raises hope for reducing mothers' death to zero," the Minister says.
Meanwhile, as Mukandutiye battles the cancer, she believes it is better late than never. At least one thing she is sure of, like Mutesi, the high school student, is that her daughters will never fight the same battle.
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