DIPAYAL, The Doti chapter of Family Planning Association of Nepal conducted a cervical cancer screening camp in Bajhnkakani VDC of Doti this week.

As many as 205 women benefited from the health camp and not a single woman was diagnosed with the cancer. However, sexually transmitted diseases were seen in 60 per cent of the total women who had their health examined.

Manager of FPAN Doti chapter, Chetraj Fular, said health workers at the camp conducted cancer screening tests to find out the possibility of the disease among women.

“A check-up was also carried out on sexually transmitted diseases. During the examination, over 60 per cent women were found suffering from STDs,” Chetraj said.

“We have been conducting mobile camps since 2014,” Fular said, adding, “Various kinds of STDs are seen in over half of the women who had their health checked up across the district.”

According to FPAN Doti, 95 out of 328 women who underwent health check-up from June to December in 2014 were diagnosed with various kinds of STDs while the same was seen in 200 women out of 411 in 2015.

Fular said most of the women in the rural areas were suffering from sexually transmitted infections. “Awareness and access to health care has helped the women in the city areas to stay away from such infections, but the situation is worse in the far flung areas, he added.

The number of patients suffering from STDs is rising at the District Hospital Doti.

Doctor Amit Jha, of the hospital, said up to six women with sexually transmitted infections visited the hospital every day.

Jha attributed the increasing cases of STDs to the lack of personal hygiene and lack of awareness regarding reproductive health. According to Jha, rural women usually hide their diseases, especially if the ailments are related to sexual and reproductive health. THT