Whittington Hospital sends cervical screening equipment to Iraq
A team of medical specialists are flying to Iraq with cervical screening and colposcopy equipment during the last weekend of October to help train Iraqi medics in the diagnosis and treatment of cervical cancer. A collaborative team of specialists from the Whittington, the Royal Free, University College London Hospital and the Portland Hospital will fly to Erbil in northern Iraq to set up a five-day cervical screening and colposcopy workshop. Over the week-long programme, the London specialists will help train Iraqi doctors in effort to highlight the issue of cervical cancer and help with effective detection, diagnosis and treatment of the disease.
Specialists from the Whittington Hospital’s gynaecology team regularly travel to developing countries to help highlight the importance of regular cervical screening. The hospital recently procured new cervical screening equipment and decided to donate existing equipment to help the women of Iraq.
Whittington consultant gynaecologist, Theresa Freeman-Wang, who is a member of the team visiting Iraq, said: “Effective cervical screening is vital to the detection and successful treatment of cervical cancer. If women are regularly screened for the disease by professionals who have the correct equipment and know what they are looking for, many lives can be saved.
“In March I ran a cervical screening workshop in India, which was very successful, but this is my first visit to Iraq. I am really looking forward to sharing my knowledge with the doctors over there and I hope the workshop will help make a real difference to many women’s lives.”
Last updated09 Oct 2012