Cervical cancer is preventable and treatable when detected early. However, access to screening services remains limited for many women in low- and middle-income countries, where 90% of new cases and deaths occur each year. Women living with HIV are six times more likely to develop cervical cancer. Coverage and quality of screening services remain low in Africa, where many programs largely rely on visual inspection with acetic acid and cytology rather than the more sensitive HPV DNA test. Integrating HPV DNA screening into existing HIV diagnostic platforms has the potential to improve access to testing and support earlier detection among those most at risk.

In this session, Mr. Peter Mkama from the Ministry of Health, Tanzania, presented lessons learned from leveraging existing HIV program infrastructure for HPV DNA testing. Smiljka de Lussigny from Unitaid discussed the role of catalytic investments, partnerships, and implementation approaches in supporting sustainable access to integrated diagnostic services in Africa. See the links below for the recording, presentations, resources, and related publications.