Concerned health officials in Barbados say that cervical and other cancers are increasing in women but a 15 year old girl and several young women in their twenties have gynaecological cancers.
The young teen has metastatic ovarian cancer while there are a number of young women in their twenties with cervical cancer with the youngest being only 27 years old, says Dr. Vikash Chatrani of the Barbados Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
Chatrani attributed the situation “possibly” to the environment but emphasized that there was a need for more education of young women regarding cancers in general.
“When you have problems with your private parts, you tend to keep it private….but we want to get the awareness to be open and free that people can talk about it and advise their sister and friends”, he said.
He reiterated that while he had his beliefs on environmental factors being part of the issue, more data was still required to ascertain whether this can be attributed to the increase in gynaecological cancers. Whereas there was a drop in cervical cancer, it has again risen to 19 cases for 2014 thus far.
Meanwhile, Dr. Dorothy Cooke-Johnson received a cheque for $1000 from New York based Betty Forde-Bovell to the Barbados Cancer Society. The funds were raised in memory of several friends and relatives who have died of cancer and were raised by Forde-Bovell, her husband Trevor as well as her cousin Margaret Mercado.
“We also celebrated those who are cancer survivors” said Forde-Bovell. She expressed thanks to many other contributors in New York as well as Reverend Iverston Walrond of St. Andrew’s Crossroads Church in Brooklyn, NY.
