project Elikia: hope returns for women in Congo

Four gynecology health professionals, two pharmacists, a professor from the School of Nursing and seven students of Nursing and Medicine make up the team of volunteers of the Elikia project that has traveled to the Congo. The goal: to prevent, diagnose and, when possible, treat cervical cancer in Congolese women through early screening for precancerous lesions, mainly caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV). This campaign aims to reach more than 500 women in 15 days.

Elikia, which means hope in Lingala, is a project launched eight years ago by Dr. Luis Chiva, director of the department of Gynecology and Obstetrics at the Clínica Universidad de Navarra and supported by the Friends of Monkole Foundation. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, cervical cancer is the most frequent and lethal gynecological cancer in the country and more than 6,000 women die each year because they were not diagnosed in time. 

Dr. Gabriel Reina, a specialist in the Clinic's Microbiology Service and manager of the expedition, explains that the figures are dramatic because there is no prevention subject : "There are no vaccines or screening program in place due to lack of resources. Elika aims to make an early detection of affected women and, in this way, many lives can be saved".

Hildegart González Luis is a professor at the School of Nursing. Her task on this trip is to document and disseminate how the project develops. She also anticipates a future partnership agreement . "We are going to finalize the twinning between the School of Nursing of the University of Navarra and the School of Nursing of the Institut Supérieur en Sciences Infirmières (ISSI). The goal is to be able to offer a COIL course next year between the two Schools that will strengthen the nursing profession and improve the care provided to the population in the Congo".