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Di Salvo I, Mnzava D, Nicoletti GJ, Senkoro E, Ndege RC, Huang DJ, Makunja NT, Kassiga GI, Kaufmann AM, Weisser M, Kind AB. Upscaling cervical cancer screening and treatment for women living with HIV at a rural referral hospital in Tanzania: protocol of a before-and-after study exploring HPV testing and novel diagnostics. BMC Health Serv Res 2023; 23:234. [PMID: 36894985 PMCID: PMC9998252 DOI: 10.1186/s12913-023-09113-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/28/2022] [Accepted: 01/26/2023] [Indexed: 03/11/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Cervical cancer (CC) is nearly always caused by persistent human papillomavirus (HPV) infection. It is the most common cancer among women living with HIV (WLWH) and is the leading cause of cancer-related death in women in East Africa, with 10,241 new cases reported in Tanzania in 2020. In 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) presented a global strategy for the elimination of CC as a public health problem, proposing targets to meet by 2030 for HPV vaccine coverage (90% of all 15-year-old girls), CC screening (70% of all women once at 35 and again at 45 years of age) and treatment delivery, to be scaled at national and subnational levels with a context-sensitive approach. This study aims to evaluate the upscaling of screening and treatment services at a rural referral hospital in Tanzania in order to address the second and third WHO targets. METHODS This is an implementation study with a before-and-after design performed at St. Francis Referral Hospital (SFRH) in Ifakara (south-central Tanzania). CC screening and treatment services are integrated within the local HIV Care and Treatment Center (CTC). The standard of care, consisting of visualization of the cervix with acetic acid (VIA) and cryotherapy has been up-scaled with self-sampled HPV testing and also involved the introduction of mobile colposcopy, thermal ablation and loop electrosurgical excision procedure (LEEP). Participants are WLWH aged 18 to 65 years. Outcome measures included the percentage of women screened, HPV prevalence and genotype, and adherence to screening, treatment and follow-up plan. Additionally, we will explore the performance of novel diagnostic tests (QG-MPH®, Prevo-Check® and PT Monitor®), which share the features of being manageable and inexpensive, and thus a potential tool for effective triage in HPV high-prevalence cohorts. DISCUSSION The study will provide relevant information about HPV prevalence and persistence, as well as reproductive and lifestyle indicators in a CC high-risk cohort of WLWH and about upscaling screening and treatment services at the level of a rural referral hospital in Tanzania. Furthermore, it will provide exploratory data on novel assays. TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT05256862, date of registration 25/02/2022. Retrospectively registered.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ivana Di Salvo
- Colposcopy Unit, Department of Gynaecology and Gynaecologic Oncology, University Hospital of Basel, Spitalstrasse 21, Basel, 4031, Switzerland.,Chronic Disease Clinic, Department for Interventions and Clinical Trials, Ifakara Health Institute, Ifakara, United Republic of Tanzania.,Department of Medicine, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Basel, Switzerland.,University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Dorcas Mnzava
- Chronic Disease Clinic, Department for Interventions and Clinical Trials, Ifakara Health Institute, Ifakara, United Republic of Tanzania
| | - Giovanni Jacopo Nicoletti
- Chronic Disease Clinic, Department for Interventions and Clinical Trials, Ifakara Health Institute, Ifakara, United Republic of Tanzania.,Department of Medicine, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Basel, Switzerland.,University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Elizabeth Senkoro
- Chronic Disease Clinic, Department for Interventions and Clinical Trials, Ifakara Health Institute, Ifakara, United Republic of Tanzania.,Saint Francis Referral Hospital, Ifakara, Tanzania
| | - Robert C Ndege
- Chronic Disease Clinic, Department for Interventions and Clinical Trials, Ifakara Health Institute, Ifakara, United Republic of Tanzania.,Saint Francis Referral Hospital, Ifakara, Tanzania
| | - Dorothy J Huang
- Colposcopy Unit, Department of Gynaecology and Gynaecologic Oncology, University Hospital of Basel, Spitalstrasse 21, Basel, 4031, Switzerland
| | - Nathalia Tobias Makunja
- Saint Francis Referral Hospital, Ifakara, Tanzania.,Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, St. Francis Referral District Hospital, Ifakara, Tanzania
| | - George I Kassiga
- Saint Francis Referral Hospital, Ifakara, Tanzania.,Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, St. Francis Referral District Hospital, Ifakara, Tanzania
| | - Andreas M Kaufmann
- Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Department of Gynaecology, HPV Laboratory, Berlin, Germany
| | - Maja Weisser
- Chronic Disease Clinic, Department for Interventions and Clinical Trials, Ifakara Health Institute, Ifakara, United Republic of Tanzania.,University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.,Department of Infectious Diseases & Hospital Epidemiology, University Hospital of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - André B Kind
- Colposcopy Unit, Department of Gynaecology and Gynaecologic Oncology, University Hospital of Basel, Spitalstrasse 21, Basel, 4031, Switzerland. .,University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
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Salvo ID, Mwoka M, Kwaga T, Rukundo PA, Ernest DS, Osaheni LA, John K, Shafik K, de Sousa AM. Open access, open education resources and open data in Uganda. Pan Afr Med J 2015; 21:129. [PMID: 26327966 PMCID: PMC4546711 DOI: 10.11604/pamj.2015.21.129.6325] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2015] [Accepted: 02/26/2015] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
As a follow up to OpenCon 2014, International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations (IFMSA) students organized a 3 day workshop Open Access, Open Education Resources and Open Data in Kampala from 15-18 December 2014. One of the aims of the workshop was to engage the Open Access movement in Uganda which encompasses the scientific community, librarians, academia, researchers and students. The IFMSA students held the workshop with the support of: Consortium for Uganda University Libraries (CUUL), The Right to Research Coalition, Electronic Information for Libraries (EIFL), Makerere University, International Health Sciences University (IHSU), Pan African Medical Journal (PAMJ) and the Centre for Health Human Rights and Development (CEHURD). All these organizations are based or have offices in Kampala. The event culminated in a meeting with the Science and Technology Committee of Parliament of Uganda in order to receive the support of the Ugandan Members of Parliament and to make a concrete change for Open Access in the country.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ivana Di Salvo
- International Federation of Medical Students' Associations ; University of Pavia, Italia
| | - Meggie Mwoka
- International Federation of Medical Students' Associations ; University of Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Teddy Kwaga
- International Federation of Medical Students' Associations ; Mbarara University of Science and Technology, Uganda
| | - Priscilla Aceng Rukundo
- International Federation of Medical Students' Associations ; Mbarara University of Science and Technology, Uganda
| | - Dennis Ssesanga Ernest
- International Federation of Medical Students' Associations ; International University of Health Sciences
| | | | - Kasibante John
- International Federation of Medical Students' Associations ; Gulu University, Uganda
| | - Kasirye Shafik
- International Federation of Medical Students' Associations ; Gulu University, Uganda
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Affiliation(s)
- Rele Ologunde
- Imperial College School of Medicine, Imperial College London, London, UK
| | - Ivana Di Salvo
- Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy
- International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations, Ferney-Voltaire, France
| | - Ankur Khajuria
- Imperial College School of Medicine, Imperial College London, London, UK
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