"The Halo Effect"
African women’s societal and economic contributions are so profound that her presence of being alive lifts society and the economy with her positive, protective “Halo Effect.”
She leads three mission-critical functions and roles in her community:
- Mother to her own children and manager of all household functions & operations
- Breadwinner for her family
- Protective figure -- "The Halo Effect" -- to the women and girls in her community
Her influence on the health of children, families and communities is so powerful that for every 100 women who die in Low & Middle Income Countries (LMICS), an additional 14-30 children will die, as well.
The high Cervical Cancer incidence rate among African women has a profoundly devastating societal and economic impact on the entire Continent, unnecessarily perpetuating cycles of poverty.
The Background
A woman dies of Cervical Cancer every two minutes on this planet. More than 600,000 women are diagnosed each year and an additional 300,000+ will die from a completely preventable disease.
More than 90% of these deaths occur in LMICs. In 2018, 19 countries of the top 20 countries for Cervical Cancer incidence were located in sub Saharan Africa.
In the first technical presentation at the Uniting for Cervical Cancer Elimination conference, Dr. Groesbeck Parham , a Gynecologic Oncologist of over 40 years who lives and treats women with Cervical Cancer in Zambia, provided an in-depth look at Cervical Cancer, both as a disease and its societal and economic impact on the African continent.
The Context:
- Cervical Cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths among women in sub Saharan Africa.
- Cervical Cancer’s (CC) threat to African women is far greater because they also have much higher incidence of HIV/AIDS: women with HIV are at 6X the risk for CC compared to women without HIV
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What the US can learn from abroad:
For US public and private sectors to prioritize US Cervical Cancer elimination, we have to more clearly quantify and contextualize the 14,000 women who die preventable deaths from Cervical Cancer each year.
We have to demonstrate how big the shockwaves of losing these 14,000 women unnecessarily truly is in order to galvanize greater support and funding for change.
What I’m curious to see the data on:
US Cervical Cancer Survivors / Deaths earnings, household income and employment data.
Key questions to ask:
- What does survivorship and death look like in terms of total persons impacted?
- What is the financial cost of losing a woman in the US to cervical cancer to her family? Is there an intergenerational impact?
- What is the lifecourse impact for children and survivors?
On a personal note …
I gasped when Dr. Parham described African women’s Halo Effect. As soon as he said the words, I felt the meaning crash and ricochet throughout my entire body. As a survivor who purposefully and intentionally redesigned her life and career following her diagnosis, I know how important it is to have women survive for the overall health of a family ecosystem and to protect and guide her children as they grow up. To think of so many women disappearing from their families and communities because of a preventable cancer reignited the real-time urgency of this crisis
Source: Dr. Goresbeck Parham, Gynecologic Oncologist in Zambia & leading expert on cervical cancer elimination
“As a survivor who purposefully and intentionally redesigned her life and career following her diagnosis, I know how important it is to have women survive for the overall health of a family ecosystem and to protect and guide her children as they grow up.” Yes, my friend. Yes and yes and yes.