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“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
Version 1
: Received: 6 May 2024 / Approved: 7 May 2024 / Online: 8 May 2024 (09:36:56 CEST)
How to cite:
Chelva, M.; Kaushal, S.; West, N.; Erwin, E.; Yuma, S.; Sleeth, J.; Yahya-Malima, K.; Shelley, D.; Yeates, K. “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. Preprints2024, 2024050424. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202405.0424.v1
Chelva, M.; Kaushal, S.; West, N.; Erwin, E.; Yuma, S.; Sleeth, J.; Yahya-Malima, K.; Shelley, D.; Yeates, K. “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. Preprints 2024, 2024050424. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202405.0424.v1
Chelva, M.; Kaushal, S.; West, N.; Erwin, E.; Yuma, S.; Sleeth, J.; Yahya-Malima, K.; Shelley, D.; Yeates, K. “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. Preprints2024, 2024050424. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202405.0424.v1
APA Style
Chelva, M., Kaushal, S., West, N., Erwin, E., Yuma, S., Sleeth, J., Yahya-Malima, K., Shelley, D., & Yeates, K. (2024). “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. Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202405.0424.v1
Chicago/Turabian Style
Chelva, M., Donna Shelley and Karen Yeates. 2024 "“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" Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202405.0424.v1
Abstract
Introduction: Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer in women globally and 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.
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 2014-2018 –participants included key stakeholders, HCPs, and women at risk for cervical cancer. The data was analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis methodology.
Results: Seven themes emerged from our analysis of semi-structured interviews and focus groups: 1) knowledge of cervical cancer risk and 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.
Conclusion: It is evident that there is a low level of knowledge of cervical cancer risk and 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
Subject
Public Health and Healthcare, Public Health and Health Services
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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