Zimbabwe second pilot project phase completed

9 February 2023

In early January 2023, the Zimbabwe National AIDS Council (NAC) wrapped up its current TruScreen pilot program in Masvingo , a rural southwestern province in Zimbabwe. The program is being run by NAC through the Ministry of Health and Childcare, a government body. Over 10,000 women were screened during the 6 month pilot, regardless of their HIV status. For many of these women, this is the first time they have had cervical cancer screening available to them.

Cervical cancer accounts for the majority of cancer deaths for women in Zimbabwe. TruScreen is well suited to screening in the Zimbabwe population as it overcomes many of the barriers faced when trying to access more conventional screening methods, such as lack of pathology services, and need for follow up. 

Dr Bernard Madzima, CEO of NAC, recently said of the TruScreen technology, “We intend to disseminate the TruScreen method throughout the country, so for us TruScreen really is a good way of ensuring that services are available to women at the lowest level.”