Prevent and Detect Cervical Cancer in Guatemala

In Guatemala, cervical cancer is the number one cause of cancer-related deaths among Guatemalan women. While the disease is preventable and highly treatable if detected early, in countries like Guatemala where healthcare is largely inaccessible, it’s a grim story. Inadequate health centers, lack of knowledge, and geographic barriers make it difficult for women to get screened for cervical cancer in Guatemala.

Ten years ago, WINGS developed its Cervical Cancer Prevention Program to overcome these challenges by providing visual inspection with acetic acid and immediate cryotherapy treatment for pre-cancerous cells. We continue to offer these life-saving services in stationary clinics in Sololá, Cobán and Antigua, and through our mobile clinics, which travel to the most remote areas of the country to reach underserved women. We have provided lifesaving services to improve the lives of thousands of women in Guatemala, even within our own team! 

41 year old WINGS’ Nurse Rosy was born in a rural community in San Cristobal, located in northern Guatemala. Rosy travels every month with our mobile team to provide family planning information and contraceptives to the most remote areas of the country. Like many of the girls and women we serve, Rosy has faced many challenges in her life. When she was only 15 years old, her family forced her to marry a man who turned out to be abusive. Sadly, in Guatemala it is very common for young girls to be married off without their consent. Rosy suffered through her marriage because, similar to many women in her situation, she didn’t have a say in any decisions. Although Rosy was finally able to separate from her husband, the difficulties persisted. As a single mother, Rosy had to figure out how to make ends meet so she could feed her four children and send them to school. Luckily, her former father-in-law was very supportive and encouraged her to go back to school.

Rosy and her family had never received any information about reproductive health and prior to resuming her studies, she knew very little about her own health in general. As a child, she lost her mom and aunt to cervical cancer. Neither had ever been screened and Rosy was terrified that the she would face the same health burden. However, as an assistant nurse providing these important services throughout Northern Guatemala, Rosy decided to undergo a screening with our team. Unfortunately, our staff discovered abnormal cell growth which could lead to cancer, but our team treated Rosy immediately.

As Rosy shared with our team that day, “I am truly grateful to WINGS for supporting me and allowing me to keep being a mother to my children. I now have my nursing diploma and I am so proud to be able to help people who need it. I am thankful for the opportunity to work with WINGS; I love every part of my job. I give educational talks to different communities in my native Mayan language; I provide different birth control methods; and I screen women to help prevent cervical cancer. This work is so important and I hope that I can keep doing it forever.”

Like Rosy’s aunt and mother, there are thousands of women in Guatemala who do not know about the causes of cervical cancer and how to prevent it. WINGS has worked endlessly to change this and provide information and reproductive health services to Guatemalan women in need. In 2015, we surpassed our cervical cancer screening projection by 141%, ensuring that 3,062 women were able to undergo preventive screenings.  And in the first three months of 2016 alone, we have already provided 496 cervical cancer screenings.

It is because of supporters like yourself that we are able to provide these imperative services, saving thousands of women from cervical cancer in Guatemala. Thank you for believing in the work WINGS does!

If caught early, cervical cancer is highly treatable. However, it is the number one cause of cancer-related death among Guatemalan women.

There are many reasons why fighting cervical cancer is so difficult in Guatemala. For one, there is an obvious lack of access to health centers, especially in rural areas, where people are predominantly poorer than in the rest of Guatemala. In fact, more than half of Guatemala’s population lives in rural areas, and the rural poor account for more than 70% of the country’s poor population. Additionally, transportation to a place where women could potentially get a cervical cancer screening is also very unlikely. Not only do rural areas lack proper roads, but there are many villages where public transportation simply does not exist.

Education is also lacking; especially in rural areas. Indigenous girls attend school, on average, for only three years of their lives. Even for those who do attend school; it is most likely that they will not receive education about reproductive health in general, let alone information about cervical cancer. With Guatemala being such a conservative country, reproductive health education and family planning have never been a priority. This results in many women not knowing about the risk factors for cervical cancer, or the importance of getting screened. To make matters worse, those who do need treatment for cervical cancer can rarely afford it. The poorest people in Guatemala live on approximately $2 per day, which simply does not permit paying for treatment, when there is a family to feed and other basic needs to meet.

Take Gabina Sajbin. She is 25 years old and she has three children. She’s from Ximaxox, a very remote village in Quiché. Gabina wanted to get a contraceptive method and a cervical cancer screening, but she thought she did not have enough money to afford both, so she chose to get a contraceptive method first. Gabina had been in constant pain and discomfort for the past few years. She got a pap smear two years ago, but never received the results. Her mother, the local midwife in their town wanted to help Gabina, but there was no medical facility within reach. Thankfully, WINGS held a mobile clinic in Gabina’s town, and once we found out about her financial concerns, we covered the costs of her services.

Gabina’s cervical cancer screening came out positive, but WINGS’ mobile clinics are prepared to provide immediate treatment of pre-cancerous cells using cryotherapy, so Gabina received treatment on the spot. We noticed that it was challenging for Gabina to understand certain words because Spanish is not her first language, but thankfully one of our staff members speaks Gabina’s native tongue, Quiche. This gave Gabina the opportunity to fully understand the importance of screening, the disease progression, and the treatment. To this day, we are still in contact with Gabina, making sure that she gets the attention and treatment she needs.

There are so many women in need of screening and treatment in Guatemala, but lack of resources and other challenging life circumstances create significant barriers to access. WINGS breaks down these barriers in many ways. We provide talks and training that explain the risk factors of cervical cancer, the disease progression, treatment, and the importance of screening. We also reduce our patients’ financial burden by providing low-cost, high quality services made possible through generous donations to WINGS. Last but not least, our mobile clinics are key; if a patient cannot come to us, we will go to them. Through our mobile clinics, we are able to reach people in the most remote, rural areas of the country, in the hope that more Guatemalans can get the medical attention and services they need. In 2015, WINGS surpassed its cervical cancer screening projection by 141%, screening 3,062 women. And just in the first three months of 2016, we have already done 496 cervical cancer screenings.

 Thank you for standing with WINGS and bringing vital cervical cancer education and screening to vulnerable women in Guatemala.