Sponsored by WHO and the UNFPA, the health workers were public health officials drawn from regions one and two, to equip them with methods of cervical cancer screening, management and counseling for prevention and treatment.
Speaking at the end of the training, Ba Foday Jawara, programme manager, RCH unit, said cervical cancer is a concern hence he wants them to join hands together to fight it.
He said cervical cancer is becoming an issue and a concern not only in The Gambia but the world at large and they could not fold their hands and watch their women die of cervical cancer when they could prevent it.
He said they wanted to see how best they could prevent it even though it is a big challenge to them. He therefore urged them to apply all the skills learnt so they could spread the message from one client to another during counseling.
Famara Fatty, senior programme manager, Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, said cervical cancer is becoming an international concern because it affects women and children and they want to take up certain responsibility to tackle the issue.
He said the issue of screening cervical cancer is very important because “a good number of women in the country are affected”.
He said being trained and armed with all this information is very important, for them to start doing something about the issue, adding that counseling is a big concern in cervical cancer screening.
“We have to do the counseling well so that we can attract more clients,” he said.
