Dear HIFA colleagues,
Below is the citation and part abstract of a systematic review on cervical cancer screening, with a coment from me.
CITATION: Cancer Epidemiol. 2017 Aug:49:161-174. doi: 10.1016/j.canep.2017.06.008. Epub 2017 Jul 10.
Implementing community-based cervical cancer screening programs using visual inspection with acetic acid in India: A systematic review
Prajakta Adsul, Nitin Manjunath, Vijaya Srinivas, Anjali Arun, Purnima Madhivanan
PMID: 28704717 PMCID: PMC5571735 DOI: 10.1016/j.canep.2017.06.008
ABSTRACT
The objective of this review was to systematically appraise the existing published literature about community-based cervical cancer screening programs that have used visual inspection methods using acetic acid (VIA) in India... Three major themes were identified that facilitated implementation of screening programs in a community-based setting: standardized training that maintained competency of test providers; collaborations with community-based organizations that used health education for recruitment of participants; and employing the screen-and-treat method to reduce loss to follow-up. Summarized evidence presented in this review could substantially influence future implementation and sustainment of cervical cancer screening programs at a national level.
COMMENT (NPW): It would be interesting to hear from the authors and I have invited them to comment. Do the findings of this systematic review resonate with experience in other countries? Are there other systematic reviews on this topic in the last 10 years?
I think it's notable that 'collaborations with community-based organizations that used health education for recruitment of participants' were effective. To me, this makes sense: it allows for more targeted and structured planning of activities. Can anyone share experience of CBOs providing health education for women? How can this be coordinated with others such as primary health workers?
In some countries, there is typically reliable health information available from the government (such as the NHS website for England), as well as patient organisations on specific topics (such as the Eve Appeal on gynaecological cancers). What is the situation in your country? To what extent do women have to rely on what the primary health worker tells them (which may be given in haste and misunderstood)? Are there opportunities for women to access reliable healthcare information?
Best wishes, Neil
HIFA profile: Neil Pakenham-Walsh is coordinator of HIFA (Healthcare Information For All), a global health community that brings all stakeholders together around the shared goal of universal access to reliable healthcare information. HIFA has 20,000 members in 180 countries, interacting in four languages and representing all parts of the global evidence ecosystem. HIFA is administered by Global Healthcare Information Network, a UK-based nonprofit in official relations with the World Health Organization. Email: neil@hifa.org