According to current statistics obtained by indigenous health start-up mPharma, the prevalence of cervical cancer in West Africa is about 40%, not the World Health Organization's figure of 21%. (WHO).
Cervical cancer is the greatest cause of cancer mortality among women in poor nations, according to the World Health Organization.
According to current statistics, 2,797 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer per year, with 1,699 dying from the disease. Cervical cancer is the second most common disease among Ghanaian women, and the second most common cancer among women between the ages of 15 and 44.
However, while the WHO estimates that 21.3 percent of West Africans are infected with cervical cancer, new samples gathered by mPharma in Ghana and Nigeria show that the percentage may be higher.
About 40% of the 3,000 samples gathered as part of its 10,000 women initiative, which aims to screen 10,000 women in Ghana and Nigeria for cervical cancer, tested positive.
For example, in Nzulezu, a town in Ghana's Western Region, roughly 40 of the 100 tests obtained were positive, and the situation was similar in most areas.
Sophia Baah, Mpharma's Chief Operating Officer, announced this at a press conference in Accra. She stated that the health service firm hoped to test 6,000 women in Ghana and 4,000 women in Nigeria for free as part of the program.
"The data we gather is at the center of everything we do, and with the 10,000 women initiative, we've found that the positive rate in our samples is approximately 40% out of the 3,000 samples collected thus far." However, research suggests that West Africa accounts for 21% of the population, implying that "there may be a lot of data out there that hasn't been gathered," she explained.
Increasing public awareness
Ms Baah stated that the firm hoped to raise awareness about the dangerous condition through the advertising. "It's critical to raise awareness about Africa's second-leading killer of women.
"One of the most significant things we can do with the data we're collecting is to start forecasting certain trends and scenarios before they happen."
"We can identify that this specific community is more prominent based on the statistics, and we can start looking into why," she stated.
Start-up
Ms Baah stated that the Ghanaian health tech start-up firm now serves over two million patients yearly and operates 310 mutti pharmacies throughout nine African nations.
She stated that the business aimed to expand its community (Mutti) pharmacies throughout eight African markets to serve as patients' initial point of contact.
"The start-Mutti up's pharmacies are effectively mini-hospitals," she explained, "providing a wide variety of services, such as medical consultation, diagnostic, and telemedicine services, while enhancing access and affordability to high-quality medicines."
After obtaining $35 million in a series D financing, she said the firm had set out to activate more Mutti pharmacies to expand its reach and build out its tech infrastructure as it prepared for the next phase of expansion.