The examiners of Dr Pavitra Pillay’s PhD thesis wrote: “I am highly impressed with the excellent quality…. this work is of vital importance for South Africa and should be heard by anybody interested cervical cancer”. “The studies have been well planned and the candidate has done very nice and solid scientific work.”
In her thesis Dr Pillay has shown how schistosomiasis can be a potential risk factor for the acquisition cervical squamous cell atypia and HIV.
It is recommended that regular mass drug administration for schistosomiasis is implemented and public health interventions raising awareness of cervical cancer are instituted targeting young women and men in endemic populations.
- Title: “Female genital schistosomiasis (FGS) is a potential risk factor for squamous cell atypia and HIV among young women from schistosomiasis endemic populations”
- PhD registered: University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), South Africa
- Main supervisor: Professor Myra Taylor, UKZN
- Co-supervisors: Dr Eyrun F Kjetland, Oslo University Hospital, Norway/UKZN and Professor Lisette van Lieshout, Leiden University Medical Centre, The Netherlands
- Other supervisor: Professor Borghild Roald, University of Oslo, Norway