Rio de Janeiro – On October 11, the Operational Group for the Control of Cervical Cancer met in Rio de Janeiro, to validate the “Plan UNASUR Region Free of Cervical Cancer”.
The South American Health Council (CSS), which brings together the Ministers of Health of the 12 countries that make up the Union of South American Nations, assigned the RINC in September last year the development of a plan to eradicate mortality caused by cervical cancer in South America.
The project is about to be completed until December, when it will be evaluated by the CSS.
Cervical cancer is a curable and preventable disease for which, according to Dr. Lucía Delgado, Coordinator of the RINC, “these are all preventable deaths” and added that beyond the number of deaths, which varies greatly from one country to country, “every death counts.”
For her part, Carina Vance, executive director of the South American Institute of Government in Health (ISAGS), co-executor of the Plan, highlighted the scope of the project, which extends beyond borders
South American countries, and recalled the importance of taking into account “the social determinants that cross the various health systems” of the UNASUR countries and that invite us to “think about the root causes of the different conditions” that affect the health of our towns.
Vance was also hopeful with the idea that ISAGS would not be limited to an administrative-financial role, but would actively participate in supporting the implementation of the objectives contained in the Plan, through the management of information and knowledge by service of the 12 countries of UNASUR.
Dr. Silvina Arrosi, coordinator of the Operational Group for the Control of Cervical Cancer and Technical Consultant of the Executive Commission, who has the responsibility
On the responsibility of drawing up the Plan, she also expressed satisfaction and enthusiasm after the meeting: “It is the crystallization of many months of work, the work of an entire team, networking. Now we are waiting for the moment to put it into practice”.
Along the same lines, Dr. Luiz Santini, Coordinator of the Plan, highlighted the innovative character present in the process of preparing the project, a process carried out horizontally, through a lot of dialogue and participation: “When you go down from above a Plan and the countries must implement it in their own realities, generally, it does not work. This is not easy, it is not simple. There is debate, there are different points of view. But that has to do with democracy. It takes longer, it is more laborious, but in this way we intend to achieve our objectives and achieve greater effectiveness, ”he said.
Santini hopes that this innovative, participatory and horizontal model will be taken as an example for the implementation of other plans and projects in the region, and highlighted the accompaniment and articulation with ISAGS during the process.
Regarding the relevance of cervical cancer in the region, Santini stressed that this disease has been
gaining visibility in recent times for various reasons. One of them is the lobby of the industry: “There is a very strong lobby by the pharmaceutical and equipment industry itself in the sense that cancer treatment and diagnosis consume a lot of technology. There are very important economic interests behind this, ”he assured.
This lobby, however, has its positive side. It has helped make society visible and discuss the issue of cervical cancer. However, Santini warns, “if this lobbying is not well channelled, many times the countries end up spending a lot of money with few results.”
