International Rotary Project
"Protect Your Pearl" Project
Know.
Prevent.
Screen.
Protect.
The Rotary Club of Eau Claire, together with our fellow Rotarians in Accra, Ghana, enjoyed strong success in an international project to provide training and equipment to teams of nurses and midwives in Ghana to both screen and treat cervical cancer. Cervical cancer disproportionately affects low-income, rural and peri-urban women. While our project's Phase One exceeded screening targets, screening remains critically low.
Phase Two will scale the proven model of screening and treatment nationwide. We aim to screen 9,500 women; providing treatment for an expected 1000 while strengthening referral pathways to partner hospitals. All of the equipment provided in Phase One will be used to greater effect. The informative and motivational campaign created by our Accra East Rotary partners will work to encourage participation. The treatment in Phase Two will be enhanced by the inclusion of HPV DNA testing. This will support more precise clinical decision-making.
The world has been moving from old equipment that has made screening and prevention of cervical cancer difficult. The new devices and technology make it possible for middle care staff like nurses and midwives able to do a lot.
-- Dr. Kofi Effah
The technical credibility and national relevance of this project are strongly anchored in the leadership of Dr. Effha and the Cervical Cancer Prevention and Training Centre (CCPTC). Dr. Effah is widely regarded as one of Ghana's foremost authorities on cervical cancer prevention, with decades of experience in clinical care, traink and policy advocacy.
A defining strength of the Protect Your Pearl Project has been the leadership of the Rotary Club of Accra East and its ability to mobilize Rotary's national network. More than 40 Rotary, Rotaract (university), and Interact (high school) Clubs enabled implementation at 29 sites nationwide. This same experienced network will work to grow the number of women who participate in screening and treatment. The Rotary Club of Eau Claire is proud to be a part of this important work.
Dr. Kofi Effah (left) and his team at Catholic Hospital Battor, 2018. Courtesy Catholic Hospital Battor.
The Rotary Club of Accra-East has led Rotary efforts to support Dr. Kofi Effah's work to prevent cervical cancer in women in Ghana. In 2017 the club helped raise funds for a mobile colpscope. This device can be taken out into rural communities to screen women for cervical cancer. In 2023, the club is worked with the Rotary Club of Eau Claire to purchase 50 mobile thermal ablaters. Thermal ablaters are used by trained health care workers to treat cervical cancer when it is detected. Like the mobile colpscope, the thermal ablaters can be taken out into rural communities to meet women in their homes.
In 2025, the Rotary Club of Accra-East launched a national "Protect Your Pearl" awareness campaign to raise awareness, screen 1,600 women and provide treatment for detected pre-cancer cases across 29 sites in all 16 regions. The club intends for this to be an annual campaign, with the 2026 dates scheduled for September 11 - December 26, 2026.
Rotary Club of Accra-East, photo courtesy Catholic Hospital Battor
[The mobile colpscope] was a project that … was going to be the first ever in the history of Ghana and Sub-Sahara Africa … the team could go to the homes of our women and our young girls … and offer their screening services. As Rotarians, we need to take the opportunities to our community.-- Rotarian and Past President Gertrude Adzo Akpalu, Rotary Club of Accra-East