University health team treats 535 Congolese women in two weeks

A health team from the University of Navarra has attended 535 Congolese women in the country's capital, Kinshasa, to continue working on the prevention of cervical cancer. The group was composed of six professionals and eight medical students, led by Dr. Luis Chiva, director of the department of Gynecology and Obstetrics of the University of Navarra. Clínica Universidad de Navarra. The project , named Elikia (hope in Lingala), is also supported by partnership of the NGO Friends of Monkole.

The team was in the Congo between June 30 and July 13. It settled in Mont Ngafula, where the Monkole Hospital is located, one of the most disadvantaged neighborhoods in the area. For two weeks the health workers - mostly from the Clínica Universidad de Navarra- and medical students worked to improve the cervical cancer screening system implemented in previous expeditions. For the past eight years, the University of Navarra has been collaborating with the Congolese hospital to research an effective screening method for the Congolese population. "Not only do we want to help the Congolese women in the importance of medical prevention, but we also want to do our bit for the health professionals in Monkole so that they can continue their great work care throughout the year," said Dr. Chiva. "They have been exhausting conference , but the effort has been worth it once again this year."

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the human papillomavirus (HPV) causes about 99% of cervical cancer cases. This year, the project Elikia has introduced the test PCR at Monkole Hospital, capable of giving a reliable diagnosis in less than an hour.