Medical News: Every Day 10 Women Killed By Cervical Cancer

Cervical cancer or cervical cancer is suppose to be the main killer of Indonesian women. Every day is estimated to 10 women in Indonesia die from cervical cancer.

Cervical cancer is caused by a virus called human papilloma virus (HPV). The virus is a variety of types, but the cause of cervical cancer are about 20 types, which are common and high-risk types 16 and 18. Transmission usually occurs through sexual intercourse (80 percent).

According to Prof. Dr. M. Farid Aziz, Professor of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Indonesia (Faculty of medicine), about 80 percent of the HPV virus will go away and die because the immune system.

"The rest, the virus that will settle and develop into precancerous cells and in 10-20 years time could become cancerous," he said.

He added that, because the long journey that the virus is, in fact the cancer cells can be captured through screening. "The efforts of early detection with Pap smear or VIA test can find the virus in pre-cancerous condition," he said at the launch Cervical Cancer Prevention Initiative in Jakarta, Thursday (21/10/2010).

Primary prevention of cervical cancer, added Farid, is to protect themselves from risk factors and causes, including immunization.

"HPV vaccine helps the immune system recognize and destroy the HPV virus before it infects and put a halt to his illness," he said.

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