The Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) on Monday signed a memorandum with Bir Hospital to provide free screening and treatment for cervical and breast cancer to women.

The move aims to protect women from cervical and breast cancer, two of the most common cancers affecting and claiming the lives of Nepali women.

“We have allocated Rs 15 million for the ongoing fiscal year,” said Dr Deewash Neupane, medical officer at KMC’s health department. “The hospital will carry out the screening and provide treatment free of cost, and we will reimburse the hospital as per the agreement.”

Cervical cancer and breast cancer are the most prevalent cancers in Nepali women. Doctors at Chitwan-based BP Koirala Memorial Cancer Hospital said that cases of breast cancer have surpassed cervical cancer in recent years.

According to the hospital, 402 major and 766 minor breast surgeries were performed in 2024. Several other hospitals in the country also provide cancer treatment.

Hundreds of women are diagnosed with cervical cancer in Nepal every year. It is estimated that four women succumb to cervical cancer every day in the country.

Due to a lack of testing at health facilities, limited access to crucial tests at cancer hospitals, and low awareness of cancer risks among both patients and health workers, many people in Nepal are succumbing to cancer.

Patients generally do not seek treatment unless it is an emergency, and healthcare providers also do not order testing unless other conditions have been ruled out.

“Most patients come to us only after visiting six or seven other hospitals, often without getting a proper diagnosis,” said Dr Shivaji Poudel, director at the hospital. “Cancer is curable, if it is diagnosed and treated at an early stage, but most patients are diagnosed at a late stage, when chances of survival lessen.”

Doctors said health workers should ask all women who visit health facilities to mandatorily undergo screening for cervical cancer.

In the last fiscal year, the metropolis spent Rs10 million to provide free cervical cancer screening and treatment at the Bir Hospital. Last year, 2,564 women were screened under the scheme at the hospital. Of them, 126 women from the city were found infected with human papillomavirus (HPV). Of these, 28 were found infected with HPV types 16 and 18, which are responsible for 70 percent of cervical cancer cases. The remaining 98 tested positive for other types of HPV.

Experts say early treatment can prevent up to 80 percent of cervical cancer cases. Most cases are associated with HPV. Widespread immunisation could significantly reduce cervical cancer and other HPV-related cancers worldwide.

The Ministry of Health and Population has included the HPV vaccine in the routine immunisation list from this year. All girls aged 10 were inoculated with the HPV vaccine.

Officials say that women seeking care for cervical and breast cancer have to first visit the urban health promotion centres run by the KMC’s Health Department. Doctors there will refer suspected cases to Bir Hospital.