Establishing Baseline Cervical Cancer Screening Coverage - India, 2015-2016

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Oncology
• Epidemiology

Background:

• Cervical cancer is a significant health burden in India, ranking as the second leading cause of cancer incidence and mortality among women.
• Despite available low-cost screening methods, high mortality rates persist due to late diagnosis, limited access to services, and inadequate healthcare infrastructure.
• India's Ministry of Health and Family Welfare recommends visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA) screening every five years for women aged 30-65.

Purpose of the Study:

• To establish a baseline for cervical cancer screening coverage in India.
• To estimate the prevalence of lifetime cervical cancer screening among women aged 30-49 years.
• To identify demographic and geographic variations in screening uptake.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of survey data from the Fourth National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4), conducted during 2015-2016.
• Inclusion of data from 699,686 Indian women aged 15-49 years, with a focus on women aged 30-49 for screening prevalence.
• Definition of cervical cancer screening as ever having had a cervix examination.

Main Results:

• Overall lifetime cervical cancer screening prevalence was found to be low at 29.8%.
• Significant geographic variation was observed, with screening rates ranging from 10.0% in the Northeast Region to 45.2% in the Western Region.
• Screening prevalence was higher among women with higher education, greater household wealth, those ever married, and urban residents.

Conclusions:

• The study establishes a critical baseline for cervical cancer screening coverage in India.
• Findings underscore the need for targeted interventions to address disparities in screening access.
• The data serve as a key indicator for monitoring progress in accordance with WHO global frameworks for noncommunicable disease control.