Download Just this indicator - MEASURE Evaluation

PERCENT HEALTH FACILITIES OFFERING CERVICAL CANCER SCREENING SERVICES
Definition:
Among the health facilities in a given region or country, the percent that offer cervical cancer screening
services. The screening services can be using new or traditional methods or approaches, with or without a
diagnostic test, but must be in accordance with the respective national policy on screening methods.
This indicator is calculated as:
(Number of health facilities offering cervical cancer screening services / Total number of health facilities in
geographic area of interest) x 100
Data Requirements:
Surveys or assessments from health facilities in geographic area of interest determining if a health facility has the
necessary functioning equipment, stock, trained provider(s), as well as service protocols for performing
screenings. Data can be disaggregated by province and district, urban/rural location, type of facility (public,
private, community-based), and range of cervical cancer screening services offered.
If targeting and/or linking to inequity, classify service delivery points by location (poor/not poor) and disaggregate
by location.
Data Sources:
Facility assessments, including the Maternal and Child Health Audit in the SPA; interviews with staff and person in
charge of screening services; facility inventory and physical verification of equipment
Purpose:
The effectiveness of any cervical cancer prevention program depends on screening a large number of eligible
women and treating those with precancer (ACCP, 2004). This indicator is a measurement of availability of cervical
cancer screening services and, when tracked over time, can provide useful information as to how robust a
country’s cervical cancer prevention program is.
Issue(s):
Because of unanticipated events, such as stockouts or equipment failure, cervical cancer screening services may be
interrupted. Therefore, evaluators should determine if an additional criterion is necessary, being that the facility
must have provided cervical cancer screening services within a specified timeframe (e.g. in the past month) to be
counted for this indicator.
Although this indicator measures potential access to screening services, it does measure quality of the services.
References:
Alliance for Cervical Cancer Prevention (ACCP). PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTING CERVICAL CANCER
PREVENTION AND CONTROL PROGRAMS: A MANUAL FOR MANAGERS. Seattle: ACCP;
2004. http://whqlibdoc.who.int/paho/2004/a92126.pdf