Global partners unite to defeat women’s cancers in Asia Pacific

Worldwide, cancers affecting women, particularly breast and cervical cancers, are on the rise, and nowhere is that more true than in Asia Pacific. A study by Economist Impact, commissioned by the Asia Pacific Women's Cancer Coalition, and supported by Roche, found that cancers affecting women account for 45% of all global breast cancer cases and 58% of cervical cancer deaths worldwide. And yet, these cancers—particularly cervical cancer—are preventable with proper screening and diagnosis.

Combatting this alarming trend is the

Asia Pacific Women's Cancer Coalition,

a new collaboration of partners who are working together to expand preventive healthcare for women in the region.

Heather, whose organisation is part of the coalition, explains that the group brings together powerful partners who are skilled in things like advocacy, resource mobilisation, and on-the-ground know-how to reduce cases of cervical and breast cancer in Asia Pacific.

“Wiping out cervical cancer by the next century is the goal,” Heather says. “Each of the partners that come to the table in our coalition bring a different perspective, and different levels of knowledge and understanding at a regional and global level. Together, we can focus and figure out who we call on. What are the numbers telling us in this area? And where do we see an opportunity?”

Cervical cancer is one of the easiest cancers to prevent, Heather says of this disease. Cervical cancer can be prevented through vaccination, screening, early detection and treatment.

But conditions in many Asia Pacific countries make it difficult to implement preventive care. Many women don’t have the access they need to transportation to be able to reach preventive health clinics, or can’t go because of childcare responsibilities or lack of money to pay.

”If you even say the word cancer, people think they have it,” says Heather. Combatting personal fears and stigma around cancer is one of the priorities of the coalition's work via educational campaigns to spread awareness that cervical cancer is both preventable and highly treatable, if detected early.

As the Asia Pacific Women’s Cancer Coalition is focusing on eliminating women’s cancers in the region, Heather and TogetHER for Health provide advocacy and policy work as well as offer small grants to cervical cancer and reproductive health programmes on the ground in low- and middle-income countries.

For example, one of the grants supports Malaysia’s Program ROSE which has held community outreach events to bring education as well as methods for early detection and prevention of cervical cancer.

Thanks to sponsorships and donations, Program ROSE has screened 25,000 women in 200 locations, cementing its status as a model programme in the country, and wider the region.

TogetHER for Health and theare working to meet cervical cancer elimination goals set by the World Health Organization. The WHO’s Global Strategy for Cervical Cancer Elimination sets a 2030 target for reaching goals for vaccination, screening, and treatment.

This include ensuring that 70% of women are screened with a high performance test for cervical cancer, ideally by ages 35 and again at 45, and and 90% of women identified with the disease receive treatment.

With the WHO strategy in place as a guiding principle for reducing cancer rates, the Asia Pacific Women’s Cancer Coalition commissioned Economic Impact, an analysis of cancer policies and programmes in six countries in the Asia Pacific region - India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam and Taiwan. This analysis revealed actionable steps for change that regional governments could initiate to reduce the impact of cancer on women and strengthen communities. In the case of cervical cancer, for instance, every dollar invested in interventions could return $3 to the local economy.

TogetHER for Health and the Asia Pacific Women's Cancer Coalition are on a mighty mission to improve women’s health and strengthen the region through prevention efforts. Thanks to programs like TogetHER for Health, a stronger, healthier future for women and their families throughout Asia is on the horizon.