“In the Village That She Comes from, Most of the People Don’t Know Anything about Cervical Cancer”: A Health Systems Appraisal of Cervical Cancer Prevention Services in Tanzania

Melinda Chelva (), Sanchit Kaushal, Nicola West, Erica Erwin, Safina Yuma, Jessica Sleeth, Khadija I. Yahya-Malima, Donna Shelley, Isabelle Risso-Gill and Karen Yeates
Additional contact information
Melinda Chelva: Department of Medicine, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON K7L 3N6, Canada
Sanchit Kaushal: Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 1A8, Canada
Nicola West: Department of Medicine, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON K7L 3N6, Canada
Erica Erwin: Department of Medicine, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON K7L 3N6, Canada
Safina Yuma: Ministry of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children, Dodoma P.O. Box 743, Tanzania
Jessica Sleeth: Canadian Cancer Trials Group, Kingston, ON K7L 2V5, Canada
Khadija I. Yahya-Malima: Department of Nursing Management, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, Dar es Salaam P.O. Box 65001, Tanzania
Donna Shelley: School of Global Public Health, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA
Isabelle Risso-Gill: Specialty Registrar in Public Health, National Health Service (NHS), London SE1 8UG, UK
Karen Yeates: Department of Medicine, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON K7L 3N6, Canada

IJERPH, 2024, vol. 21, issue 8, 1-19

Abstract: Introduction: Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer in women globally. It is the most common cancer in Tanzania, resulting in about 9772 new cases and 6695 deaths each year. Research has shown an association between low levels of risk perception and knowledge of the prevention, risks, signs, etiology, and treatment of cervical cancer and low screening uptake, as contributing to high rates of cervical cancer-related mortality. However, there is scant literature on the perspectives of a wider group of stakeholders (e.g., policymakers, healthcare providers (HCPs), and women at risk), especially those living in rural and semi-rural settings. The main objective of this study is to understand knowledge and perspectives on cervical cancer risk and screening among these populations. Methods: We adapted Risso-Gill and colleagues’ framework for a Health Systems Appraisal (HSA), to identify HCPs’ perspective of the extent to which health system requirements for effective cervical cancer screening, prevention, and control are in place in Tanzania. We adapted interview topic guides for cervical cancer screening using the HSA framework approach. Study participants (69 in total) were interviewed between 2014 and 2018—participants included key stakeholders, HCPs, and women at risk for cervical cancer. The data were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis methodology. Results: Seven themes emerged from our analysis of semi-structured interviews and focus groups: (1) knowledge of the role of screening and preventive care/services (e.g., prevention, risks, signs, etiology, and treatment), (2) training and knowledge of HCPs, (3) knowledge of cervical cancer screening among women at risk, (4) beliefs about cervical cancer screening, (5) role of traditional medicine, (6) risk factors, and (7) symptoms and signs. Conclusions: Our results demonstrate that there is a low level of knowledge of the role of screening and preventive services among stakeholders, HCPs, and women living in rural and semi-rural locations in Tanzania. There is a critical need to implement more initiatives and programs to increase the uptake of screening and related services and allow women to make more informed decisions on their health.

Keywords: cervical cancer; knowledge; education; beliefs; health systems appraisal; Tanzania (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/21/8/1059/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/21/8/1059/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:21:y:2024:i:8:p:1059-:d:1455278

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().