Dear HIFA colleagues,
Thank you for your contributions to the discussion so far. What have we learned? What more can we learn?
Q3. What inaccurate, misleading or confusing information about cervical cancer have you encountered?
We have heard from Dominican Republic, India, Nigeria, Somalia and South Africa. It would be great to have inputs from other countries. How do people in *your country* generally perceive cervical cancer? What concerns, beliefs or attitudes stand out? Email: hifa@hifaforums.org
I have selected the following quotes from our discussion so far, with thanks to our contributors:
Diya Banerjee Sur (India) “Myth/belief in villages of India: The HPV vaccine can destroy the reproductive capabilities of a girl child.”
In a later message, Diya expanded on this: “Recently, since the central government started the HPV vaccine program, I heard this wrong rumour circulating through one of the health workers: ‘Girls who are vaccinated lose the ability to reproduce.’ This rumour has fueled vaccine hesitancy among the locals.”
“After probing it seems this is a baseless somewhat anti-establishment rumour coupled with the fear about vaccines, similar to what we saw with the COVID vaccine.”
Frank Brightwell (Dominican Republic): “Some younger women are reluctant to have a Pap for fear it will somehow leave them ‘marked,’ no longer a virgin; some fear that an abnormal result will be read as proof of a partner’s infidelity.”
Cherian Varghese (India): “At the same time, social media has penetrated deeply into communities. This has created a new challenge: information spreads rapidly, but so does misinformation. Without adequate filters, inaccurate messages can appear suddenly, circulate widely, and reinforce misconceptions.”
Meena Nathan Cherian (Switzerland), on traditional healers: “However, these TH often are not part of the health system and therefore, rarely updated with evidence-based scientific healthcare knowledge.”
Neil Pakenham-Walsh, sharing examples from research in Zambia:
“I was told that the metal [speculum] for testing for the cancer is what brings the cancer … I refused at that time, I did not get tested.”
“Other women had heard that the examination was painful and that taking a biopsy would leave a permanent scar.”
“Another woman had been led to believe that treatment involved inserting a hot iron bar into her vagina to burn away the cancer. She became so frightened that she began questioning whether she should continue with treatment.”
Neil Pakenham-Walsh, sharing a South African example:
“Nobomi [South Africa] consulted online sources when she experienced heavy bleeding and pain for more than 12 months. The online information seemed to indicate that her contraceptive could be the cause of her symptoms.”
What would you like to say on this question? Please email tour thoughts to: hifa@hifaforums.org
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