Free Gynecology Checkups in Rusanj: Today From 9 AM to 1 PM

Do you live in Rusanj and have been putting off a trip to the gynecologist for years? Today that excuse is gone. From 9 AM to 1 PM, this Belgrade suburb is hosting “A Day for Me, Bring a Woman You Love,” a free gynecology checkup campaign timed to Gynecological Cancer Prevention Day, marked worldwide on September 20.

In brief

• The campaign runs today, September 20, from 9 AM to 1 PM
• It’s taking place at the clinic in Rusanj, which has no permanent gynecologist
• Prof. Dr. Vesna Kesic and Dr. Jelena Stulic are conducting the exams
• Up to 50 women are expected to be seen, free of charge
• Appointments: 060 3581 029

Why Rusanj

The local clinic has no permanent gynecologist, and organizers say it doesn’t even have a gynecological exam table. When Prof. Dr. Vesna Kesic and Dr. Jelena Stulic began preparing the campaign, they realized that women in the area essentially have no chance to be examined regularly. So instead of waiting for those women to make their way into the city, the two doctors decided to bring the checkup to them.

“When we started this campaign and the preparations themselves, we realized that these patients, these women, don’t even have the opportunity to get examined, because the clinic has no gynecologist, it doesn’t even have a gynecological exam table,” explains Dr. Jelena Stulic, clinical assistant, specialist in gynecology and obstetrics, and subspecialist in gynecological oncology.

What the checkup includes

Reports on the exact scope of the exams vary slightly between outlets. According to Telegraf, women will get a speculum and colposcopy exam, a Pap smear by the Nikolau method, HPV typing, an ultrasound of the genital organs and counseling. Kurir, meanwhile, reports a gynecological exam, colposcopy, Pap test and counseling, with volunteers from the Milica Women’s Center also showing participants how to perform a breast self-exam. The Cukarica Health Center is also backing the campaign.

Here’s what to know before you call:

• Appointments are booked at 060 3581 029
• The checkups run today, September 20, from 9 AM to 1 PM
• Up to 50 women are expected to be examined
• The exam is completely free
• Every woman in Rusanj was invited, and sign-ups began the day the campaign was announced

“The campaign means that all the women of Rusanj have been invited. Unfortunately, we can only examine 50 women. For them it may be just that, but for us it’s a big thing,” says Dr. Stulic.

Why this matters

Dr. Stulic explains that in Serbia, cervical cancer and uterine cancer lead the numbers, ahead of ovarian and vulvar cancer. Both, she says, can be caught early, when treatment is far easier, less aggressive and comes with better odds of recovery.

“All women, at a certain point in their lives, are potentially at risk of developing some form of cancer,” Dr. Stulic says. She adds that the risk rises with age, so women who have already gone through menopause shouldn’t skip their checkup either, even without symptoms.

“It’s very important for women to come in regularly for gynecological exams, because so many illnesses pass through their early stages this way,” Dr. Stulic says.

HPV after forty, still a concern

The doctor also points to HPV, the virus behind most cervical cancer. More than 80 percent of sexually active women and men contract at least one strain of HPV by age 45, most often in their twenties, when the infection typically clears on its own thanks to the immune system. The trouble comes later. During perimenopause and menopause, immunity weakens, and HPV positivity can resurface. That’s why a regular cervical exam, not just an HPV test, remains essential after forty as well.

A similar campaign, another part of Serbia

We reported yesterday on free skin checkups in Kanjiza, Becej and Ada, and today it’s gynecology in Rusanj. The pattern is the same: doctors go where care is missing instead of waiting for patients to reach clinics in town.

What to do today

The medical advice stays the same regardless of any single campaign: a preventive gynecological exam once a year, even with no symptoms at all. If you live in Rusanj, you have until 1 PM to get that done for free, with specialists from the field of gynecological oncology itself. Bring a woman you love too, a mother, a sister or a friend, just as the campaign urges, since the pull to help someone else is often stronger than the one to help ourselves.