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‘I feared I would die’: Inside Uganda’s cervical cancer crisis

Women in rural Uganda are dying as patriarchal violence and misinformation drive cervical cancer cases

‘I feared I would die’: Inside Uganda’s cervical cancer crisis
A pregnant twenty two year old Angella Kagoya, a survivor of cervical cancer in Mayuge District, Uganda, hangs clothes on a clothesline to dry. August 2024 | Photo Credit: Soita Khatondi Wepukhulu
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On a dusky Friday evening, 38-year-old Tubeerawo Edisa, a mother of eight, sits happily chatting with her family as she prepares a warm bath for her two-year-old granddaughter. These days, Edisa cherishes moments like these more than ever.

Just three years ago, she “was at death’s door” and feared she would die from cervical cancer.

When she was at her worst, Edisa could not leave her house. She had to wear two pairs of underwear and bits of cloth to deal with the painful vaginal discharge of pus, water and blood. Life was unbearable.