Vallely: Sufficient data to draft policy

 THE leader of a cervical cancer screening and treatment trial in Papua New Guinea says researchers believe they will have sufficient data in the next few months to make the drafting of definitive policy 

possible.

The head of science at the Institute of Medical Research, Andrew Vallely, says cervical cancer kills 1,500 women a year, more than any other cancer, a rate among the highest in the world.

He says pap-smear screening has worked very well in urban areas over the last decade. But it is not as successful in rural parts of the country where the majority of women lives and can be difficult to locate.

He says a simultaneous screening and treatment early intervention programme being tried in the highlands is likely to be rolled out across PNG. – RNZI