A recent women’s health initiative has highlighted the need for more options for cancer screening and organizers are considering making it an annual event.
The Women’s Health Network (WHN) hosted Paptober. The event was designed to encourage women to have a Pap (Papanicolaou) test. A common barrier to the test for women is either not having a family physician or having a male family physician. Paptober allows women to have the test performed by a female physician.
During a cervical cancer screening test, a tissue sample from the cervix, the narrow portion of the uterus where it joins with the top of the vagina, is taken and examined for precancerous cells.
The Canadian Medical Association estimates that in 2011 approximately 1,300 new cases of cervical cancer were diagnosed in Canada and about 350 women died from the disease. While the number of cases of cervical cancer and deaths caused by the disease have dropped over the past 50 years, most advanced cervical cancer occurs in women who have never undergone screening or who have had long intervals between Pap tests.
Thirty-five women were able to have Pap tests and clinical breast exams during Paptober and almost half attended because they did not have a family doctor in Powell River, said WHN chair Sandy McCartie. She called the day a success.
“We have started to see that there is a real need in the community for this and we would consider doing it again in a year and possibly extending it to a second day if the physicians are willing,” she said.
The event was organized as a partnership between the doctors, public health nurses, Powell River and District United Way and WHN. The doctors donated their time, United Way donated money to provide coffee and doughnuts for the participants and pizza for the physicians, and the public health nurses donated their time and some of the supplies for the test.
Female health workers including Drs. Leta Burechailo, Vidushi Mittra Melrose, Henriette Strydom and Texada Island’s public health nurse, Susan Sharkey, saw patients during the four-hour event, held at Drs. Danielle Marentette and Susan Horsfall’s Harvie Avenue clinic.
Two years ago the WHN organized a similar event called Paparazzi but it was much smaller, said McCartie.
This year’s event was well-attended. “It was really quite something,” said McCartie. “Every woman who wanted an appointment got one.”
