Characteristics of Women Seeking Cervical Cancer Cytology Screening in a Private Health Facility
<i>Background and Objectives</i>: Over 80% of cervical cancer cases in sub-Saharan Africa are detected at late stages, predominantly due to the lack or inaccessibility of prevention services. Public health facilities in Ethiopia offer free cervical cancer screening for eligible women. Be...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-09-01
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| Series: | Medicina |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1648-9144/59/9/1624 |
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| author | Tizita Ashenafi Clara Y. Stroetmann Sefonias Getachew Adamu Addissie Eva J. Kantelhardt |
| author_facet | Tizita Ashenafi Clara Y. Stroetmann Sefonias Getachew Adamu Addissie Eva J. Kantelhardt |
| author_sort | Tizita Ashenafi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <i>Background and Objectives</i>: Over 80% of cervical cancer cases in sub-Saharan Africa are detected at late stages, predominantly due to the lack or inaccessibility of prevention services. Public health facilities in Ethiopia offer free cervical cancer screening for eligible women. Besides the public health facilities, private providers also offer a variety of screening services at the patients’ expense. As the overall cervical cancer screening uptake in Ethiopia is still far below the 90% WHO target, coordination between all actors of the health system is key. This includes a close cooperation between the public and private sectors to combine the advantages of both to the benefit of all patients as well as media campaigns and community involvement to promote the self-initiation of screening. <i>Materials and Methods</i>: To gain insights into the utilization of cervical cancer screening in the private health sector, we conducted an institution-based cross-sectional study at Arsho medical laboratories in Addis Ababa. Every woman who came there for cervical cancer screening between 1 May and 30 June 2020 was asked to participate in a questionnaire-based, face-to-face interview about their socio-demographic background, cervical cancer screening experience and self-initiation of screening. A total of 274 women participated in the interviews. We further assessed the reproductive status of the patients, their risk factors for cervical cancer, source of information about the screening and barriers to cervical cancer screening. <i>Results</i>: The ages of the participants ranged between 20–49 years. The majority (over 70%) were married. A total of 37.6% reported self-initiating the screening. More than three-quarters of all interviewed women reported mostly using the private health care sector for all kinds of health services. <i>Conclusions</i>: While the Ethiopian government efforts on scaling up cervical cancer screening focus mainly on public health facilities, the private sector often does not get as much attention from policy makers. Efforts should be made to extend the government’s interest in cervical cancer screening and implementation research to the private healthcare sector. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T22:29:08Z |
| format | Article |
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| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1010-660X 1648-9144 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T22:29:08Z |
| publishDate | 2023-09-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Medicina |
| spelling | doaj.art-81d952144ca647efa37acf24b77595f62023-11-19T11:52:35ZengMDPI AGMedicina1010-660X1648-91442023-09-01599162410.3390/medicina59091624Characteristics of Women Seeking Cervical Cancer Cytology Screening in a Private Health FacilityTizita Ashenafi0Clara Y. Stroetmann1Sefonias Getachew2Adamu Addissie3Eva J. Kantelhardt4Department of Preventive Medicine, School of Public Health, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa 366, EthiopiaGlobal Health Working Group, Institute for Medical Epidemiology, Biometrics and Informatics (IMEBI), Martin-Luther-University Halle, 06112 Halle, GermanyDepartment of Preventive Medicine, School of Public Health, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa 366, EthiopiaDepartment of Preventive Medicine, School of Public Health, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa 366, EthiopiaGlobal Health Working Group, Institute for Medical Epidemiology, Biometrics and Informatics (IMEBI), Martin-Luther-University Halle, 06112 Halle, Germany<i>Background and Objectives</i>: Over 80% of cervical cancer cases in sub-Saharan Africa are detected at late stages, predominantly due to the lack or inaccessibility of prevention services. Public health facilities in Ethiopia offer free cervical cancer screening for eligible women. Besides the public health facilities, private providers also offer a variety of screening services at the patients’ expense. As the overall cervical cancer screening uptake in Ethiopia is still far below the 90% WHO target, coordination between all actors of the health system is key. This includes a close cooperation between the public and private sectors to combine the advantages of both to the benefit of all patients as well as media campaigns and community involvement to promote the self-initiation of screening. <i>Materials and Methods</i>: To gain insights into the utilization of cervical cancer screening in the private health sector, we conducted an institution-based cross-sectional study at Arsho medical laboratories in Addis Ababa. Every woman who came there for cervical cancer screening between 1 May and 30 June 2020 was asked to participate in a questionnaire-based, face-to-face interview about their socio-demographic background, cervical cancer screening experience and self-initiation of screening. A total of 274 women participated in the interviews. We further assessed the reproductive status of the patients, their risk factors for cervical cancer, source of information about the screening and barriers to cervical cancer screening. <i>Results</i>: The ages of the participants ranged between 20–49 years. The majority (over 70%) were married. A total of 37.6% reported self-initiating the screening. More than three-quarters of all interviewed women reported mostly using the private health care sector for all kinds of health services. <i>Conclusions</i>: While the Ethiopian government efforts on scaling up cervical cancer screening focus mainly on public health facilities, the private sector often does not get as much attention from policy makers. Efforts should be made to extend the government’s interest in cervical cancer screening and implementation research to the private healthcare sector.https://www.mdpi.com/1648-9144/59/9/1624cervical cancer screeningcervical cancer screening uptakeprivate health sectorEthiopiaself-initiation |
| spellingShingle | Tizita Ashenafi Clara Y. Stroetmann Sefonias Getachew Adamu Addissie Eva J. Kantelhardt Characteristics of Women Seeking Cervical Cancer Cytology Screening in a Private Health Facility Medicina cervical cancer screening cervical cancer screening uptake private health sector Ethiopia self-initiation |
| title | Characteristics of Women Seeking Cervical Cancer Cytology Screening in a Private Health Facility |
| title_full | Characteristics of Women Seeking Cervical Cancer Cytology Screening in a Private Health Facility |
| title_fullStr | Characteristics of Women Seeking Cervical Cancer Cytology Screening in a Private Health Facility |
| title_full_unstemmed | Characteristics of Women Seeking Cervical Cancer Cytology Screening in a Private Health Facility |
| title_short | Characteristics of Women Seeking Cervical Cancer Cytology Screening in a Private Health Facility |
| title_sort | characteristics of women seeking cervical cancer cytology screening in a private health facility |
| topic | cervical cancer screening cervical cancer screening uptake private health sector Ethiopia self-initiation |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1648-9144/59/9/1624 |
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