Objective: To establish factors influencing early diagnosis and treatment of cervical cancer in Zimbabwean women.
Design: A cross sectional study.
Setting: A random selection of 29 primary health care facilities, 11 district/provincial and four tertiary hospitals in Zimbabwe.
Results: All the institutions at primary health care, district, provincial and tertiary levels had the basic infrastructure to perform exfoliative cytology screening (Pap. smear). An average of only nine pap. smears per month were performed at primary health clinics and at district/provincial and tertiary levels seven and 23 Pap. smears per week were done respectively. Infrequent supplies of consumable materials and lack of policy guidelines were the most common reasons for not screening women. Surgical treatment for cervical cancer was offered in all tertiary hospitals but only 22% of provincial hospital had facilities to perform hysterectomy.
Conclusion and recommendations: There is an urgent need to improve screening for cervical pre-cancer in Zimbabwean women with emphasis to provide adequate treatment facilities especially at district and provincial Hospitals. A national policy guideline should be drawn to address specific ages and frequency of screening for cervical cancer.