Cervical Cancer Prevention

One cost-effective approach to preventing cervical cancer combines visual inspection of the cervix, using ordinary table vinegar, and same-day cryotherapy. Here, health personnel learn how to freeze premalignant cancer cells.

In Ethiopia, women access life-saving services through Pathfinder’s first and largest cervical cancer prevention project.

Through a five‐year Centers for Disease Control-supported project, Pathfinder has developed an innovative approach to increasing access to and use of cervical cancer prevention services for women living with HIV in Ethiopia. Pathfinder has introduced the single-visit approach that allows providers to detect precancerous lesions and offer treatment on the same day. 

Pathfinder recently received one year of additional funding from the CDC for this work.

The initiative leads to improved care for a very treatable condition, cervical pre-cancer, if diagnosed early. Working with the Ministry of Health, Pathfinder is building national capacity to support comprehensive facility-based services; promoting community education and awareness of cervical cancer; and establishing strategic alliances and partnerships to expand the use of these services. Stanford University’s Program for International Reproductive Education and Services, the project’s international technical partner, provides technical knowledge, evidence-based training materials, and extensive experience with cryotherapy in low-resource settings.

The success of this intervention led Ethiopia’s Ministry of Health to expand this project from 14 pilot facilities to 118 hospitals. 

Since it began in 2009, the project has established services at all 14 planned facilities, including five Centers of Excellence plus nine other facilities, all of which are providing single-visit approach to cervical cancer prevention services.

So far, the project has provided visual inspection with acetic acid services to more than 20,000 women, which well exceeds the life-of-project target of 5,000. In fact, most of the hospitals that initiated services early in the project have nearly exhausted targeted clients in their catchment areas, and there is great interest in expanding services to the general population who are in need of services.

SPREAD THE WORD Share this graphic on Twitter or Facebook!