Cervical Cancer Initiative, Esteli, Nicaragua
Juntos Adelante is a project of the Institute for Central American Studies (ICAS), a 501c3 nonprofit organization. For the past five years Juntos Adelante has constructed a clinic for Mama Licha, a local midwife in Esteli, Nicaragua (for more information visit www.mamasclinic.org). As well we have worked with the government run public health system, Centro de Salud, to provide resources and technical assistance to improve women's reproductive health.
Nicaragua, the second poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, has the highest rate of cervical cancer in Central American. It is a common killer of women in Nicaragua, including young women. This form of cancer can be prevented with early detection and treatment. Currently in Esteli, a community of 120,000 people, there are very few resources to follow up on abnormal pap smears. The Centro de Salud, which provides care to everyone, does not have a single colposcope. This means that patients have to pay out of pocket at a private clinic for colposcopy, which costs $50, the same as an average month's salary. Because of inability to pay for this, hysterectomy is often the treatment for abnormal pap smears, an extreme alternative leaving women infertile.
We are in the second phase of coordinating a cervical cancer initiative which will be a public-private partnership between Juntos Adelante, Mama Licha.s Clinic and the Centro de Salud. The goal of this project is to equip, train and empower the local health professionals to be able to use colposcopy and LEEP effectively to follow up and treat abnormal pap smears and lower rates of cervical cancer.
To date, Dr. Stephanie Cox-Batson has visited Esteli three times to evaluate firsthand the situation, meet with local nurses and physicians, offer trainings and provide direct patient care. Building on this initial work, Juntos Adelante and Dr. Cox-Batson have actively recruited OB/GYN specialists from Northwestern University and other hospitals in Chicago. These specialists have agreed to volunteer their time to train, demonstrate and provide services in Esteli every three months for two years. The goal is that at the end of the project the local health professionals will be self sufficient.
One of the strengths of the cervical cancer initiative is working with preexisting relationships between U.S. based specialists and the local Nicaraguan health system to strengthen the health infrastructure. This tract record guarantees a positive outcome. Currently we are looking for two colposcopes to launch the project this November. We have already received a donation of a LEEP unit from Utah Med. We are actively seeking $10,000 in funding to purchase two colposcopes, provide training to the local health professionals, and launch this important initiative to lower cervical cancer rates in Esteli.