Integrating Comprehensive HIV And Cervical Cancer Services Saves Lives

Integrating Comprehensive HIV And Cervical Cancer Services Saves Lives

Cervical cancer affects an estimated 527,624 women worldwide each year, killing more than half of them. About 85% of the global disease burden occurs in developing countries, and Southern Africa is one of the highest-risk regions in the world. In Malawi, nearly 4.8 million women over the age of 15 are at risk of developing cervical cancer, a number which will continue to increase as the country’s significant youth population ages.

Treatment and prevention programs that have been tailored to the local system and context have been shown to be associated with an overall reduction in cervical cancer mortality.  

The District Health System Strengthening and Quality Improvement for Service Delivery (DHSS) Project provided support to strengthen cervical cancer screening at five health facilities in five districts from April 2015 − December 2017. DHSS was already supporting these facilities to improve access to and quality of priority HIV-related services, such as HIV testing services and antiretroviral therapy (ART).