An assessment of the implementation of the provincial cervical screening programme in selected Primary Health Care Clinics in the Ilembe Region, KwaZulu-Natal.

Abstract

Cervical cancer is almost completely preventable, yet it is the second most prevalent cancer amongst women in South Africa. KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) in particular has a high mortality rate of cervical cancer and 1: 40 women die from cancer of the cervix. Therefore, in 1997 a cervical screening policy and programme was implemented in the province. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the implementation of selected aspects of the Provincial cervical screening programme in selected Primary Health Care (PHC) clinics in Ilembe Region, KZN. Results indicated that there was a lack of resources needed for implementing the programme in rural clinics compared to urban clinics. However, all clinics in the study had an adequate supply of the drugs needed for the treatment of abnormal smears. On reviewing the records, the researcher noted that most of the results indicated that smears had adequate cells needed for analysis. However, the results indicated that there was a problem with follow-up of clients with abnormal smears. Feedback to the clinics from the referral hospital regarding the outcome of the visit was inadequate. The results indicated that the mechanisms of record keeping were inadequate. Therefore, the above results indicate that problems exist at the selected PHC clinics that may result in ineffective implementation of the cervical screening programme.