When you see Arofat Marakhimova’s reassuring smile and warm eyes, you don’t immediately think of the word “fear.” She’s a school nurse who, for nearly 3 decades, has bandaged scraped knees, doled out comforting words, and gently admonished wide-eyed kids for not washing their hands. But not so long ago, fear found her anyway.
Early detection
It started with a phone call from the clinic. Arofat Marakhimova can still remember how her heart pounded when they said, “Come in, your test results didn’t look good.” She is the kind of person who leaps into action, so she rushed over, but in her own words, her mind “went in all directions.” She felt a dread she had rarely known – a human papillomavirus-positive (HPV-positive) diagnosis was not what she had expected to hear. At first, it weighed heavily on her. “I fell into a deep depression,” she says. “I couldn’t even tell my children.”
Arofat Marakhimova’s diagnosis was part of a cervical cancer screening pilot programme in Uzbekistan, launched in 2020 by the United Nations Population Fund, the Embassy of France, the WHO Regional Office for Europe, and the International Agency for Research on Cancer. Its goal was to introduce HPV testing as the main early detection method. “They told me I was older now and should come in for this test,” recalls Arofat Marakhimova. “I was frightened, but I’m grateful it happened, as HPV testing caught my condition early.” Like thousands of other women enrolled in Tashkent region and Karakalpakstan, Arofat Marakhimova learned that advanced early detection tools could help to detect cervical precancers before they become life-threatening.
Through the pilot, more than 56 000 women have been screened, with many, like Arofat Marakhimova, receiving potentially life-saving information. This initiative paves the way for a nationwide HPV-based screening programme from 2025 onwards, aiming to bring Uzbekistan closer to the global goal of eliminating cervical cancer.
“Don’t neglect yourself”
“It helped that I had some medical background,” Arofat Marakhimova explains. She understood that swift action mattered. “I took time off from work and made the effort to go.” It wasn’t easy – she was scared, but her doctors reassured her. “Don’t worry,” they said. “This can be treated.” And that’s exactly what happened. Tests, consultations, more tests. And then, a moment of utter relief: a second test came back negative. “I was so overwhelmed I had tears in my eyes,” she says, recalling the gynaecologist who gave her the good news.
Today, Arofat Marakhimova is “fine and not afraid anymore,” and if you ask her about the experience, she’s quick to turn the conversation to other women. “Don’t neglect yourself,” she’ll say, “Get your check-ups even if you feel healthy. You owe it to yourself.” She says it with such warmth that you can’t help but believe her.
Vaccination, testing and treatment
Arofat Marakhimova has never stopped advocating for women’s well-being. When she learned about cervical cancer, an illness primarily driven by high-risk types of HPV, she knew she had to share this knowledge. “Cervical cancer is unlike most cancers, because we can actually prevent it through vaccination,” she says.
In her school nursing role, she’s helped to vaccinate 9-year-old girls against HPV. “At first, parents were scared,” she admits. “But after I explained how it protects their children, they agreed. Now I encourage everyone to feel confident about the HPV vaccine. I even had my own granddaughters vaccinated.” Arofat Marakhimova has 3 children and 5 grandchildren.
The global community, spearheaded by WHO’s Cervical Cancer Elimination Initiative, aims to reduce new cases to fewer than 4 per 100 000 women per year by the turn of the century.
It is a big goal, grounded on 3 key pillars:
- vaccination of 90% of girls by age 15;
- screening of 70% of women using high-performance tests by age 35 and again by age 45; and
- treatment of 90% of women with precancerous lesions and invasive cancer.
Research shows that a single dose of HPV vaccine offers strong protection, persisting even 15 years after vaccination. Screening remains vital: an HPV test, done every 10 years, can detect signs early, before they develop into something serious. And while these solutions might sound clinical, they mean one simple thing for women like Arofat Marakhimova – a future without cervical cancer.
Arofat Marakhimova’s story is a testament to the importance of HPV testing and vaccination. They transform a disease that once loomed large into something manageable and avoidable. “It’s time we stopped letting cervical cancer claim so many lives,” Arofat Marakhimova says. In the corridors where children’s laughter echoes, she knows she has an even greater job to do than bandaging scrapes: sharing vital knowledge about preventing cervical cancer.