30% surge in new cervical cancer cases in Hong Kong over past decade, experts say
Hong Kong Free Press
Hong Kong has seen a 30 per cent increase in new cervical cancer cases over the past decade, reversing a downtrend since the 1980s, experts have said.
Hextan Ngan, convenor of the HPV Prevention Alliance, said on Wednesday that nearly 600 new cervical cancer cases were diagnosed in 2021, compared with more than 450 new cases diagnosed in 2012.
Patients also appeared to have become younger, Ngan said, as reported by local media. Between 2018 and 2022, the rate of cervical cancer among women aged 20 to 44 was 8.9 cases per 100,000 women, up 15.6 per cent from the rate in 2003 to 2007.
Around 40 per cent of cases were diagnosed at advanced stages, reducing the chance of a successful treatment, said Ngan, chair professor at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Hong Kong.
“Women in this age group are pillars of society, who simultaneously work and take care of their family,” she said in Cantonese. “Prevention and early detection of cervical cancer are pivotal to increasing the chance of a successful treatment.”
See also: Hong Kong domestic worker fired for having cancer in 2019 has died, aged 40
Cervical cancer – the ninth cause of cancer death among women in Hong Kong – is largely preventable, thanks to the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine and regular cervical screening tests.
However, Grace Wong, senior doctor of the Family Planning Association, said the number of women getting vaccinated and tested had declined in Hong Kong in recent years.
Around 95 per cent of cervical cancer cases are caused by HPV, which “is transferred primarily through sexual intercourse,” Wong said in Cantonese. “Up to 80 per cent of sexually active persons could be exposed to the virus.”
Wong urged unvaccinated women to receive a jab as soon as possible.
The Hong Kong government began providing free HPV vaccinations to primary school girls in 2019. It launched the Catch-Up Programme in December to offer free HPV jabs to female residents born between 2004 and 2008.
Regular screenings
Karen Chan, clinical professor and chairperson at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Hong Kong, said only around half of adult women in Hong Kong had undergone cervical screenings.
She urged greater accessibility for such medical tests to women as they were important to detect abnormal symptoms before the cancer developed.
“Sexually active women aged between 25 to 64 should undergo regular cervical screenings,” Chan said in Cantonese.
If the results of cervical screenings are normal for two consecutive years, women can have a screening every three years, she said.
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