Cervical cancer continues to claim lives of many women in developing countries, Tanzania included. The disease is often fatal and affects entire communities. Furthermore, gender inequities including access to finance and decision-making power pose barriers to women seeking health related information and services that would empower them to take control of their lives.
The USAID Boresha Afya (“Improve Health”) Southern Zone activity is improving access to quality reproductive and child health services by implementing gender transformative approaches through linkage, referral and collaboration with other development actors operating in Kilolo DC and Iringa DC in Iringa, Tanzania. Agnes Mkungile (38) has been a beneficiary of an Internal Lending Communities (SILC)/Income Generated Activities (IGA) group under USAID Boresha Afya Southern Zone in Migoli, Iringa since 2016.Through the group she has benefited with cervical cancer screening services and economic empowerment opportunities.
Before joining the group, Agnes was afraid of doing cervical cancer screening as she heard from some of her community members in Migoli that, when you do the screening the health workers take away your reproductive organs then they return it after they are done. She believed this misinformation as she lacked education and knowledge about how the screening for cervical cancer is done, so she was never motivated to go for checkups. The misinformation scared her from going for screening even when she was advised in health centers that it is important for women to do so yearly to understand their status.
One day during the health education sessions provided in the SILC/IGA groups, Agnes learned the truth about cervical cancer, and how the screening procedure is conducted. She was informed by trusted professionals that her reproductive organs are not taken away. Finally, after the session, she was willing to do the screening. Now, Agnes is well educated and informed about cervical cancer screening procedures and information. She later returned to her community and informed them about the truth of how screening is done and became a champion to other women in her community who were also misinformed about the screening procedure.
The USAID Boresha Afya Southern Zone gender empowered program is reaching women with economic empowerment activities through SILC/IGA groups. The program also links women with other USAID implementing partners in various sectors under the Iringa Integrated Activity Hub. The beneficiaries are also linked with health related information, services and referrals. In FY 2019/20 for instance, over 3,000 women in SILC and IGA groups were reached with health information, about 2,300 received various family planning methods, 1,700 were screened for eligibility of HIV testing, nearly 400 were tested for HIV, and 15 were found to be HIV positive and subsequently linked to care. Over 830 clients who were screened for cervical cancer and 5 (0.6%) had precancerous lesions and received treatment.
