Every year in the Republic of Armenia (RA), an average of 178 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer, and 115 die from the disease. Rector of the Yerevan State Medical University, Armen Muradyan, wrote about this.

Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer and the fourth leading cause of cancer deaths among women worldwide (7.7% of cancer deaths in women). In 2020, a total of 604,127 new cases of cervical cancer and 341,831 deaths were recorded.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is currently the most accepted and common cause of cervical cancer. There is increasing evidence that the HPV is an important factor in the development of other anogenital cancers as well as head and neck cancers.

"Current estimates show that every year in Armenia, an average of 178 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer, and 115 die from the disease. Cervical cancer is the 8th most common cancer among women in Armenia, and the 2nd most common among women aged 15-44. This is the 7th leading cause of death from cancer among women living in Armenia. Overall, data on the prevalence of HPV in the RA population are still lacking. However, in West Asia, the region to which Armenia belongs, about 2.5% of women in the general population are currently infected with HPV 16/18, and 72.4% of invasive cervical cancers are associated with HPV 16 or 18.

Cervical cancer incidence rate in Armenia is the second highest in the region (8.4/100,000 women) after Georgia (9.8/100,000 women).

Armenia first launched a systematic cervical cancer screening program in January 2015. About 110,000 women aged 30-60 were screened with Pap smears in one year (coverage is about 30%). The 3-year research rate is currently 41% and falls short of the international level of 70%.

The percentage of women in the RA who had ever had a Pap test was 37% (in the 25-65 age group) and 39% in the 30-49 age group. The percentages of women who underwent the mentioned examination in the last 3 years were 26% and 29% (2019), respectively.

Due to the introduction of screening and secondary prevention strategies in Armenia, malignant neoplasms of the cervix were detected in 15% of women screened in the last 1-3 years.

It should be noted that the cases of cervical cancer has not undergone any major changes since the introduction of systematic screening in 2015.

The WHO [(World Health Organization)] global strategy defines cervical cancer elimination as reducing annual new cases to 4 or fewer per 100,000 women, and sets three targets to be met by 2030 to put all countries on the path to elimination in the coming decades.

  1. By age 15, 90% of girls should be vaccinated.
  2. 70% of women between the ages of 35 and 45 should be screened with a high-quality test.
  3. 90% of women with cervical disease should receive treatment.

Cervical cancer can be cured if the diagnosis is made and the treatment is started at an early stage of the disease. Recognizing the symptoms and seeking medical advice in case of any complaint are important steps," Muradyan noted.