“Health professionals do not know that bloody discharge, smelly discharge, pain when you have sex or infertility may be caused by Female Genital Schistosomiasis (FGS)”, the conference participants heard at the virtual IPVC (International Papillomavirus Conference, Toronto November 16-23, 2021 ).
“Currently these women are treated mistakenly as though they have cancer or as if they have a sexually transmitted disease, but women and girls may have FGS instead. Their daughters and sisters who use the same source of water for domestic purposes will make up a new generation of women with the same problem, wrongly diagnosed, untreated, misinformed and suffering. For the first time, we are suggesting to pair the diagnosis of cervical cancer and FGS in the same programme, elevating the standard of care.”
FGS is a variant of Bilharzia, Schistosoma haematobium, transmitted in fresh water in Africa. The disease lasts for a lifetime.
Please listen to world experts in cervical cancer and FGS who are teaming up.