Nigeria has recorded one of the lowest cervical cancer screening rates among 10 sub-Saharan African countries, with only 7.8 per cent of eligible women surveyed saying they had ever been screened for the disease, a new study has revealed.
The study, published in The Lancet Regional Health – Africa on October 17, 2026, found that just 22.4 per cent of women aged 30 to 49 with multiple sexual partners across the 10 countries had undergone cervical cancer screening.
Researchers analysed data from 1,957 women in the 2022–2024 Demographic and Health Surveys of Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Nigeria’s performance was among the poorest, ahead of only the Democratic Republic of Congo, which recorded 2.9 per cent. Ghana and Mali recorded 8.2 and 12.2 per cent, respectively.
Lesotho had the highest screening uptake at 64.1 per cent, followed by Zambia with 48.3 per cent, Malawi with 40.8 per cent and Kenya with 33.4 per cent.
The researchers said the disparities reflected differences in healthcare access, screening programme availability, financing and health system organisation.
The study identified poverty and rural residence as major barriers to screening. Women in rural communities had 30 per cent lower odds of being screened than their urban counterparts.
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Similarly, women from richer and richest households had nearly twice the odds of being screened compared with those from the poorest households.
The researchers attributed the inequalities partly to transportation difficulties, limited access to health information, screening costs and the uneven distribution of healthcare facilities.
The study also found that women who had visited a health facility within the preceding 12 months had 60 per cent higher odds of being screened than those who had not.
The researchers said this highlighted the importance of integrating cervical cancer screening into routine healthcare services, including primary healthcare, family planning, HIV services and sexually transmitted infection clinics.
They noted that healthcare providers could use routine consultations to recommend or offer screening to eligible women rather than waiting for patients to request the service.
Women aged 45 to 49 also had more than twice the odds of being screened compared with those aged 30 to 34.
The findings highlight the gap between current screening coverage and the World Health Organisation’s cervical cancer elimination strategy, which targets screening 70 per cent of women with a high-performance test by the ages of 35 and 45 by 2030.
The WHO strategy also targets vaccinating 90 per cent of girls against human papillomavirus (HPV) and ensuring that 90 per cent of women diagnosed with cervical disease receive appropriate treatment.
The researchers found that about 34 per cent of the remaining variation in screening uptake was attributable to differences between countries, even after accounting for individual characteristics.
They said national policies, sustainable financing, trained personnel and the availability of screening services were important determinants of coverage.
Although multiple sexual partnerships can increase cumulative exposure to HPV, the primary cause of cervical cancer, the researchers cautioned against using sexual behaviour alone to determine screening eligibility.
They stressed that screening should follow established national and international guidelines and be accessible to all eligible women without stigma.
The researchers acknowledged that the study measured whether women had ever been screened rather than whether testing occurred within recommended intervals or whether follow-up treatment was received.
However, they called for improved access in rural communities, reduced financial barriers and stronger integration of screening into routine health services to address persistent inequalities in cervical cancer prevention.
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