Dr Vanes­sa Har­ry

Con­sul­tant Gy­nae­co­log­i­cal On­col­o­gist

Jan­u­ary is the month of fresh starts. We set goals, plan our year, and promise our­selves that we will eat bet­ter, ex­er­cise more, and take bet­ter care of our health. Yet one cru­cial con­ver­sa­tion that is al­ways over­looked for too many women in Trinidad and To­ba­go: cer­vi­cal can­cer screen­ing.

Jan­u­ary is al­so Cer­vi­cal Can­cer Aware­ness Month, but un­like Oc­to­ber when the world turns pink in recog­ni­tion of breast can­cer, we very rarely hear or think about can­cer of the cervix or even know about the teal rib­bon.

So, let’s start with a sim­ple, hon­est ques­tion:

• ↓When was your last Pap smear?

• ↓And if you’ve nev­er had one—why not let this be the month you start?

Cer­vi­cal can­cer is pre­ventable—if we act

Cer­vi­cal can­cer is one of the most pre­ventable can­cers, yet it con­tin­ues to af­fect and claim the lives of women across T&T. That truth is dif­fi­cult—but it’s al­so em­pow­er­ing. Be­cause pre­ven­tion means we are not help­less.

This dis­ease is not in­evitable or in­deed hered­i­tary. But it be­comes dan­ger­ous when we miss op­por­tu­ni­ties to de­tect it ear­ly.

Why is cer­vi­cal can­cer still so com­mon in T&T?

De­spite avail­able screen­ing and vac­cines, cer­vi­cal can­cer re­mains a se­ri­ous pub­lic health is­sue lo­cal­ly. Some of the rea­sons in­clude:

• ↓Low screen­ing rates, es­pe­cial­ly among women who feel “fine”.

• ↓Missed fol­low-ups af­ter ab­nor­mal test re­sults.

• ↓Lack of aware­ness and ed­u­ca­tion, par­tic­u­lar­ly about how of­ten screen­ing is need­ed and who needs it.

• ↓Fear, dis­com­fort, em­bar­rass­ment, stig­ma, or sim­ply be­ing too busy car­ing for every­one else.

Many women on­ly seek care when symp­toms ap­pear—but ear­ly cer­vi­cal can­cer has no symp­toms at all. Feel­ing well does not mean you are can­cer-free.

Cer­vi­cal can­cer, Pap smears, and HPV mat­ter right now

Cer­vi­cal can­cer is most of­ten caused by the hu­man pa­pil­lo­mavirus (HPV)—a com­mon virus that most sex­u­al­ly ac­tive peo­ple world­wide have been ex­posed to at some point in their lives.

• ↓You can have HPV with­out know­ing it.

• ↓You can feel healthy and still be at risk.

• ↓Changes in the cervix can take years to de­vel­op—which is why screen­ing works.

Pap smears and HPV test­ing can de­tect changes be­fore can­cer starts. That is the pow­er of pre­ven­tion.

‘But aren’t there vac­cines and tests al­ready?”

Yes—and that’s ex­act­ly why aware­ness is still nec­es­sary. Vac­cines and tests on­ly save lives when they are used.

Too many women:

• ↓Don’t re­alise they are over­due, or in­deed nec­es­sary.

• ↓Think screen­ing isn’t nec­es­sary af­ter child­birth or menopause.

• ↓Be­lieve be­ing faith­ful or asymp­to­matic means they are safe.

Why Jan­u­ary mat­ters

Jan­u­ary is more than just an­oth­er month—it’s a re­set.

• ↓A time for health plan­ning

• ↓A chance to sched­ule ap­point­ments for the year ahead

• ↓A mo­ment to choose your­self

If you’re mak­ing space for new habits, make room for your health.

This month we are go­ing to de­bunk all the myths and mis­con­cep­tions about cer­vi­cal can­cer and tell you about the cur­rent sit­u­a­tion in our na­tion with re­spect to cer­vi­cal can­cer and even hear from sur­vivors, their friends and fam­i­ly about the im­pact this di­ag­no­sis has had on their lives.

Mean­while, screen­ing is avail­able in T&T

Cer­vi­cal can­cer screen­ing is ac­ces­si­ble through:

• ↓Pub­lic health cen­tres and dis­trict health fa­cil­i­ties

• ↓Re­gion­al Health Au­thor­i­ty (RHA) clin­ics

• ↓Pri­vate doc­tors, spe­cial­ist gy­nae­col­o­gists, nurs­ing homes, and med­ical cen­tres

If you’re un­sure where to go, your near­est health cen­tre can guide you.

This mes­sage is for every woman

• ↓Young women who’ve nev­er been screened.

• ↓Moth­ers who put every­one else first.

• ↓Women over 20, 30, 40, 50, 60 and be­yond who think it’s “too late” or “not nec­es­sary any­more”.

It is nev­er too late to pro­tect your health.

This Jan­u­ary, make a promise to your­self:

• ↓Book your Pap smear or HPV test.

• ↓Fol­low up if you’ve missed an ap­point­ment.

• ↓En­cour­age a sis­ter, friend, or cowork­er to do the same.

Cer­vi­cal can­cer pre­ven­tion starts with one de­ci­sion—and that de­ci­sion can be made to­day.

Your health mat­ters. Your life mat­ters. Let Jan­u­ary be the month you take ac­tion.