Screening for Cervical Cancer is also added to regular healthcare services

In the 6th Meet-the-Press session, Health Minister Tandin Wangchuk expressed concerns over women losing their lives, with 20-25 annual deaths, due to cervical cancer.

 To address this, the Health Minister announced that screening for cervical cancer has been added to regular healthcare services. This initiative is also part of a flagship project that includes breast and stomach cancers.

“The latest screening for cervical cancer shows about 90 percent of women have been tested so far. However, 10 percent of women have not been screened. So, this will be continued in the 13th Five-Year Plan where the screening services will be offered to prevent at the earliest,” said the Health Minister.

Previously, the HPV vaccination was only given to girls, but Lyonpo Tandin stated that it will now be administered to boys as well. “Students in the sixth grade will receive the HPV vaccination, and those who are not in schools but have reached the age of 12 will also be given the HPV vaccination.”

Furthermore, to prevent cancers at the earliest stage, the Ministry of Health plans to create awareness programs and upgrade the qualifications of existing doctors to specialize in these fields.