EXPANDING THE MENU OF SERVICES FOR KEY POPULATIONS

“When they first look vaginal speculum as it is metal they fear it will be painful, once the procedure is done they give feedback that it’s not what they expected and come back for the second test.’’ From Bole DIC.

In 2021, the USAID MULU: Key Populations Activity received funding from PEPFAR through USAID to expand health services at Dop-in-Centers (DICs) to include cervical cancer prevention. Female sex workers are at high risk of acquiring the human papillomavirus, a sexually transmitted virus that causes more than 90% of cervical cancer cases. Also, HIV-positive women are 4 to 5 times more likely to develop persistent HPV infections and cervical cancer, highlighting the need to integrate cervical cancer prevention for Female sex workers (FSWs).

Accordingly, PSI Ethiopia, in partnership with stakeholders such as Pathfinder international and government offices such as the Ministry of Health and Regional Health Bureaus, is working to prevent cervical cancer. Primary activities of the partnership include coordinating capacity-building workshops for health providers, finalizing purchase and delivery of medical equipment, setting up rooms for the program, and conducting service readiness assessments.”

Starting in December 2020, the Activity began providing cervical cancer screenings with VIA (Visual Inspection with Acetic Acid) and referral services at seven drop-in centers.

Additionally, with the capacity building and purchase support we received from our Non-Communicable Disease (NCD) department, the activity was able to obtain six cryotherapy apparatuses for PSI/E and obtained approval for five cryotherapy machines for our partner in Amhara Region (Beza Posterity Development Organization). This will allow us to expand pre-cancerous treatment services per the national “Test and Treat” strategy at our DICs offering consumers access to comprehensive health services.