Activist: Incidence of cervical cancer grows in Armenia despite national strategy

YEREVAN. – Armenia adopted a national strategy to combat cervical cancer back in 2003, but in subsequent years the incidence of cervical cancer increased, head of the “Luys” Information and Analytical Center Hayk Ayvazyan told reporters.

He added that according to the national strategy, the incidence had to be reduced by 30 percent by 2015. The money allocated for this program should have been spent on screening programs, thanks to which the disease could be detected at an early stage, thereby increasing the chances of recovery.

In 2004, there were 2,336 patients with cervical cancer in Armenia, and 2,383 in 2009. From 2010, the number of patients started growing, and by 2015 there were already 3,030 patients.

According to Hayk Ayvazian, it is not clear where the fund allocated for this strategy were spent efficiently, and why it turned out to be so ineffective.

The official data suggests there were 3,116 patients with cervical cancer in Armenia in 2017. Around 250-260 new cases of this disease are recorded annually, and the death rate is around 70-80 every year.

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