Doctors try to create healthy habits in the population
Dolly LUKANOVA
The hepatitis B vaccine prevents liver cancer, and the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine eliminates the risk of cervical cancer. This was announced to Bulgaria Today by oncologist Prof. Petranka Troyanova.
“It is very important to limit the infections that are related to the occurrence of oncological diseases. I don’t know why it is so fashionable to speak against vaccines and that many young mothers do not want to vaccinate their children,” said the specialist.
For some time, we have had a national program for the prevention of cervical cancer. All girls aged 9 to 13 should be vaccinated against HPV. The infection is mainly sexually transmitted through direct contact with an infected person and is one of the most common worldwide. Papillomavirus can cause both cervical, anal, and genital cancers, and some types of head and neck cancer in both men and women.
“There is not one hour of health education in schools, in which it is explained to girls how important it is to choose their partners. This should be done at the age of 14, and for life, if I have to be honest,” she is categorical. Prof. Troyanova during the XXII national meeting of the MOST Foundation.
Among the goals of the cancer plan are improving early detection. Conditions must also be created to improve the health culture of Bulgarians and implement preventive measures, namely vaccination. Among the goals of the specialists are to create healthy habits in the population, to improve physical activity, to limit smoking and alcohol.
“Vaccines against cervical cancer prevent the disease before it appears. When the clinical manifestations appear – pain, bleeding, it is already too late. Bulgaria does not have a screening registry, despite calls for 20 years, there is no reliable cancer registry. Since 2013, the reference of the data is extremely frivolous,” commented Assoc. Prof. Nijar Jaffer.
