Dear Amal Abdikarim Yusuf,
Thank you for sharing your experience as a midwife in Somalia.
You said: "Community awareness session, antenatal and postnatal health education and engagement with community leaders can help women access reliable information and feel more comfortable asking questions about cervical cancer."
Your message reminded me of the participatory women's groups that Anthony Costello and others have researched over the past 20 years. I believe they have been effective across many aspects of health including reduction in neonatal mortality.
I suspect they could also be an efective way to explore and address issues around stigma, which we have learned are important with regards to cervical cancer screening. They should also be very helpful in countering misinformation and misperceptions.
A related thought is to see efforts to improve uptake of cervical cancer screening in the context of wider women's health issues, rather than dealing with cervical cancer alone.
I look forward to hear more about your methods, including and especially the 'community awareness sessions'.
With thanks, Neil
HIFA profile: Neil Pakenham-Walsh is coordinator of HIFA (Healthcare Information For All), a global health community that brings all stakeholders together around the shared goal of universal access to reliable healthcare information. HIFA has 20,000 members in 180 countries, interacting in four languages and representing all parts of the global evidence ecosystem. HIFA is administered by Global Healthcare Information Network, a UK-based nonprofit in official relations with the World Health Organization. Email: neil@hifa.org