Investigating the Attitudes and Knowledge of HIV-Positive Women Towards Cervical Cancer Screening Services in Malawi

Bachelor Thesis from the year 2026 in the subject Health - Public Health, grade: Merit, , course: BSc Public Health, language: English, abstract: Cervical cancer is the abnormal growth of cells that starts in the cervix. The cervix is the lower part of the uterus that connects to the vagina. It is one of the most life-threatening diseases that affects Women Living with HIV(WLHIV). According to the fact sheet Malawi 2023 report, the estimates indicated that every year 4145 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer and 2905 die from the disease. Cervical cancer is six to eight times common in WLHIV. Regular cervical cancer screening helps to detect the cancer early for effective treatment. Main Objective: An observation was made that WLHIV are hesitant to undergo cervical cancer screening in Malawi despite the services being available. Therefore, the study aims to investigate the knowledge and attitudes of HIV positive women towards cervical cancer screening services. Specific objective: (1) Identifying the proportion of eligible HIV positive women accessing cervical cancer screening services, (2) assessing the willingness of HIV positive women to seek cervical cancer services voluntarily (3) analyzing the perceptions of HIV positive women towards annual cervical cancer screening. Methodology: In a mixed methods study conducted at Lighthouse, Kamuzu Central Hospital, a sample size of 99 participants was identified using simple random sampling methods. A questionnaire created using kobo-toolbox software was used to collect data and written consent was obtained from all participants involved in the study. Findings: Results showed that 93% of the respondents had ever accessed cervical screening at Lighthouse (Figure 2), Despite having 93% of WLHIV getting screened, only 52 women out of 99 reported that they have ever gone for screening on their own willingly (Figure 4). 69 respondents (70% of participants) portrayed to have several perceptions towards cervical cancer screening. In Figure 5 the listed perceptions ranked differently according to how the respondents described them. Painful ranked higher with 59% mentions, seconded by embarrassing 34%, scary 31%, degrading 25% and uncomfortable 20%. Conclusion: In conclusion, there good coverage of cervical cancer screening which is largely associated with successful strategies put in place at the facility to ensure that every eligible woman is screened but the lack of willingness to and negative perceptions towards screening highlighted by WLHIV portrays health promotion gap that needs attention.