Cervical Cancer Prevention and Control in Tanzania

IMA has been awarded a two-year grant by the Izumi Foundation to implement the Cervical Cancer Prevention and Control Program in northern Tanzania

Christopher Glass/IMA

When a woman is diagnosed with cervical cancer in Tanzania there is a 70% chance she will not survive. Many experts agree that the low survival rate is due to late diagnosis and treatment by a health care provider.

It is estimated that, 6,241 women were diagnosed with cervical cancer and 4,355 died from the disease in 2010. To date, cervical cancer ranks as the most prevalent cancer among women in Tanzania.

The problem is compounded by the HIV/AIDS epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa. Studies indicate that being HIV positive can increase the risk of cervical cancer by as much as 50%.  Also, HIV positive women may develop cervical cancer 10 years earlier than HIV-negative women.

IMA World Health has been awarded a two-year grant by the Izumi Foundation to implement the Cervical Cancer Prevention and Control Program in northern Tanzania. This program is designed to improve cervical cancer survival rates by raising awareness at the community level and by expanding screening to increase early diagnosis and treatment.

This program builds on IMA’s decade of experience in providing care and treatment for the childhood cancer - Burkitt’s Lymphoma (BL). Thousands of children would not be alive today without the life saving care and treatment that the BL program provided.