Cervical cancer attacks women in Senegal at a rate of 36.3 per 100,000 and a mortality rate of 26.0. This is well above the W.H.O elimination target of an incidence of no more than 4 per 100,000. The Senegalese Society for Colposcopy and Papillomavirus Pathology (SSCPP) has launched a multi-pronged campaign to eliminate cervical cancer in the country. One important part of the elimination effort is periodic training of Senegalese obstetrician-gynecologists and other health care providers about Human Papillomavirus (HPV) and the natural history and epidemiology of the disease, prevention and screening modalities, diagnosis with colposcopy, and visual inspection, and treatment options for precancerous lesions. ASCCP worked with SSCPP to develop and put on a training course for this purpose in 2025. I am one of part of the group that developed this curriculum and have been invited to lead the American faculty to join with our Senegalese colleagues to teach this course again this year. This course will increase the number of healthcare professionals in Senegal empowered and trained to prevent cervical cancer, from vaccination to treatment.
With a population of 18.3 million people, it's estimated that over 3 million women are at risk of cervical cancer. Only 13% of at risk women have been screened, and most of that screening was with visual inspection with acetic acid, a low efficacy test. This is far from the W.H.O. recommendation that 70% be screened with a high-performance test (i.e. HPV-based test)
The more providers who receive this high quality training, the more who will be able to carry on screening and treatment of at-risk women. In addition this program will motivate health care providers to advocate for greater access to HPV testing and effective treatment before their colleagues and the health ministry and to elevate cervical cancer prevention to a higher national priority. It's important that the course we conducted in 2025 not be a one-and-done project, but be part of a continuing program to help Senegal meet the W.H.O. cervical cancer elimination objectives.
Thanks to the Doximity Foundation Grant, I was able to participate as faculty in the Senegalese Colposcopy Society's second international colposcopy course and also their fourth international congress. I was one of the primary faculty for the two day colposcopy course which provided intensive training on cervical cancer prevention to 34 health care providers, mostly physicians, from 11 countries in West Africa. Additional countries were represented in the larger congress where I gave two lectures, one at a main session, one at a breakout. As cervical cancer is the number one cancer killer of women in Senegal and number one or two in other Sub Saharan African countries, education sessions for providers, such as this, will make a large impact on moving the needle towards wider early detection and prevention of this disease.
