Bangkok Hospital Pattaya educated Pattaya women about the risks of cervical cancer from the human papillomavirus.
Hospital Assistant Director Dr. Surachai Kampakdee opened the Aug. 23 seminar with Dr. Sasiratch Pattamadilok, director of BHP’s Women’s Health Center, leading the discussion.
The workshop aimed to explain the causes, prevention, screening, treatment and self-care of cervical cancer.
Nearly all cervical cancer is due to HPV with two types, HPV16 and HPV18, accounting for 70 percent of cases. Between 60-90 percent of other cancers also are linked to HPV.
Cervical cancer kills an average seven Thai women a day, or 6,000 a year. HPV is a sexually transmitted disease, but most victims won’t realize they have it and it could take up to 10 years for cancer to materialize.
Other factors contributing the cervical cancer are sexual activity at a young age, a large number of sex partners or with a man who has many partners, extended use of birth control pills, more than four pregnancies, and other STDs.
Sasiratch said women should take a cervical screening yearly. If caught early, cervical cancer can be cured, he said.
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