Incidence of cancer of the uterine cervix in Kingston, Jamaica, 1958-1970

ABSTRACT

The incidence of cancer of the uterine cervix in the parishes of Kingston and St. Andrew, Jamaica has been evaluated for a 13-year period (1958-1970) and found to be very high (33 cases per 1000,000 population per year). When compared on an age-adjusted basis with other populations, this incidence is exceeded by only two other countries with cancer registries - Cali, Columbia and Bulawayo, Southern Rhodesia. Age-specific comparisons indicate that in Kingston, as in other Negro populations, the highest incidence is in the seventh decade whereas in white populations the peak incidence is in middle life with a gradual decline after the menopause. The findings in this study therefore replace earlier observations that cancer of the cervix in Jamaica, as in other developing countries, occurs more frequently in the younger age groups (AU)