Women in Karonga District are gaining greater access to life-saving cervical cancer screening as health authorities and community partners intensify efforts to bring early detection services closer to underserved communities.
The initiative, implemented through a partnership involving Lusubilo Community Care and Karonga Diocese, combines community-based screening with Gardasil HPV vaccination for nine-year-old girls to reduce their future risk of developing cervical cancer.
Belgian medical student Anais Hublet of Maastricht University said the programme had registered remarkable growth, increasing the number of women screened from just 92 during its first year to 800 last year.
Hublet said the long-term objective was to establish sustainable screening services that operate throughout the year, rather than relying on occasional outreach campaigns.
She added that local nurses had received training to maintain the programme and ensure that women continue accessing screening services after her departure.
Nurse-midwife at Karonga District Hospital, Shida Gomeka, said taking screening services directly into communities was essential to overcoming barriers that prevent women from accessing health facilities.
Gomeka encouraged women to undergo regular screening, cautioning that human papillomavirus (HPV), which is associated with cervical cancer, can remain undetected for years without obvious symptoms.
The programme is strengthening both prevention and early diagnosis, with health workers emphasising that wider screening coverage, HPV vaccination and community awareness are critical to reducing cervical cancer-related deaths.
The initiative, implemented through a partnership involving Lusubilo Community Care and Karonga Diocese, combines community-based screening with Gardasil HPV vaccination for nine-year-old girls to reduce their future risk of developing cervical cancer.
Belgian medical student Anais Hublet of Maastricht University said the programme had registered remarkable growth, increasing the number of women screened from just 92 during its first year to 800 last year.
Hublet said the long-term objective was to establish sustainable screening services that operate throughout the year, rather than relying on occasional outreach campaigns.
She added that local nurses had received training to maintain the programme and ensure that women continue accessing screening services after her departure.
Nurse-midwife at Karonga District Hospital, Shida Gomeka, said taking screening services directly into communities was essential to overcoming barriers that prevent women from accessing health facilities.
Gomeka encouraged women to undergo regular screening, cautioning that human papillomavirus (HPV), which is associated with cervical cancer, can remain undetected for years without obvious symptoms.
The programme is strengthening both prevention and early diagnosis, with health workers emphasising that wider screening coverage, HPV vaccination and community awareness are critical to reducing cervical cancer-related deaths.
