The COVID-19 pandemic and its implications for cervical cancer treatment and prevention in Zimbabwe: perspectives and recommendations

Murewanhema, Grant

doi:10.11604/pamj.2021.39.149.26467

Cited by 10 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…In addition to that, COVID-19 has also reduced vaccine access and disrupted vaccine administration services. A study reported that the impact of the pandemic caused the shortage of personal protective equipment leading to fear and increased anxiety among healthcare workers ( 13 ). The study highlighted the disruption to the global trade and supply chains leading to the shortage of HPV vaccination caused by the COVID-19 pandemic ( 13 ).…”

Section: Impact Of Pandemic Toward Global Hpv Immunization Programmentioning

confidence: 99%

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the national HPV immunization program in Malaysia

Rao

Kampan

Chew

et al. 2022

Front. Public Health

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In Malaysia, the HPV immunization program has been introduced since 2010 as part of the national immunization plan for female students aged 13 years old. It was a very successful immunization program with good responses from students and parents until the start of COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic caused the schools to be closed and resulted about 225000 female students aged 13 years old either missed their vaccination or have incomplete doses of HPV vaccination in 2020 and 2021. This could possibly lead to an increase in cases of cervical cancer and genital warts in the upcoming years. Hence, a wellorganized catch-up HPV vaccination program is vital in ensuring the aim of achieving zero HPV-related infections in the future.

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Section: Impact Of Pandemic Toward Global Hpv Immunization Programmentioning

confidence: 99%

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the national HPV immunization program in Malaysia

Rao

Kampan

Chew

et al. 2022

Front. Public Health

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“…However, this reduction was predominantly oberserved at the early stage of the pandemic, and it gradually recovered up as the epidemic continued 35,36 . It's worth thinking about that preventive health services in undevelped and developing countris took a severe hit and have been the slowest to resume baseline services 37,38 . Similar with the most other countries, patients in China for HPV detection was sharply decreased.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on the prevalence and genotype distribution of HPV infection in Beijing, China

Yi,

Li,

Zhang

et al. 2023

Journal of Medical Virology

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Human papillomavirus (HPV) is one of the most common sexually transmitted infections nationwide. The COVID‐19 pandemic has greatly influenced on the HPV prevention project. The objective of this study was to examine the influence of the pandemic on HPV prevalence and genotype distribution in Beijing, China. A total of 44 401 genital swabs were obtained from outpatients at Peking Union Medical College Hospital during two distinct periods: the prepandemic stage from January 2017 to December 2019 and the pandemic stage from January 2020 to December 2022. During the prepandemic and pandemic stages, a total of 33 531 and 10 870 swabs were respectively collected. Fifteen high‐risk HPV (HR‐HPV) DNA type and a combination of two low‐risk (LR‐HPV) types (6/11) of genital swabs were detected to compare the HPV infection rates and genotype distributions in two stages. The results showed that the pandemic period witnessed a decrease in the overall HPV infection rate from 33.43% (11 245/33 531) to 29.43% (5527/18 780) compared to the prepandemic. There were statistically significant differences in infection rates between females and males (p < 0.05). Single infection was the predominant type while multiple infection was more prevalent in males than females in both prepandemic and pandemic periods. HR‐HPV infection constituted the majority of infections and cannot be disregarded. The distribution of HR‐HPV genotypes exhibited little variation before and after the outbreak, but there were some differences between females and males. HPV 16, 52, 58, 56, and 66 were the most commonly detected genotypes in females, whereas HPV 16, 52, 51, 58, and 18 were frequently detected in males. Additionally, HPV 6/11 exhibited a higher prevalence in males than in females. Notably, the age group of 31−40 years old exhibited the highest prevalence of HPV and the lowest infection rate was detected among individuals aged ≤20 years (p < 0.05), which remained relatively consistent before and during the pandemic. These findings underscore the importance of monitoring the trend of HPV epidemic and offer valuable insights for the prevention, treatment, and scientific investigation of HPV in the post‐COVID‐19 era.

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“…It is important to note that the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has likely exacerbated many barriers to CC screening. Disruptions to health services, changes in healthseeking behaviors [27,28] as well as indirect economic effects [29] have likely resulted in reduced access and demand for CC screening and treatment services in the short and long term. The COVID-19 pandemic has likely also widened inequities in screening and treatment…”

Section: Plos Medicinementioning

confidence: 99%

Regional and country-level trends in cervical cancer screening coverage in sub-Saharan Africa: A systematic analysis of population-based surveys (2000–2020)

et al. 2023

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Background Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has the highest cervical cancer (CC) burden globally—worsened by its HIV epidemics. In 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) introduced a CC elimination strategy with goals for vaccination, screening, and treatment. To benchmark progress, we examined temporal trends in screening coverage, percent screened at least twice by the age of 45, screening coverage among women living with HIV (WLHIV), and pre-cancer treatment coverage in SSA. Methods and findings We conducted a systematic analysis of cross-sectional population-based surveys. It included 52 surveys from 28 countries (2000 to 2020) with information on CC screening among women aged 25 to 49 years (N = 151,338 women). We estimated lifetime and past 3-year screening coverage by age, year, country, and HIV serostatus using a Bayesian multilevel model. Post-stratification and imputations were done to obtain aggregate national, regional, and SSA-level estimates. To measure re-screening by age 45, a life table model was developed. Finally, self-reported pre-cancer treatment coverage was pooled across surveys using a Bayesian meta-analysis. Overall, an estimated 14% (95% credible intervals [95% CrI]: 11% to 21%) of women aged 30 to 49 years had ever been screened for CC in 2020, with important regional and country-level differences. In Eastern and Western/Central Africa, regional screening coverages remained constant from 2000 to 2020 and WLHIV had greater odds of being screened compared to women without HIV. In Southern Africa, however, screening coverages increased and WLHIV had equal odds of screening. Notably this region was found to have higher screening coverage in comparison to other African regions. Rescreening rates were high among women who have already been screened; however, it was estimated that only 12% (95% CrI: 10% to 18%) of women had been screened twice or more by age 45 in 2020. Finally, treatment coverage among 4 countries with data was 84% (95% CrI: 70% to 95%). Limitations of our analyses include the paucity of data on screening modality and the few countries that had multiple surveys. Conclusion Overall, CC screening coverage remains sub-optimal and did not improve much over the last 2 decades, outside of Southern Africa. Action is needed to increase screening coverage if CC elimination is to be achieved.

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The COVID-19 pandemic and its implications for cervical cancer treatment and prevention in Zimbabwe: perspectives and recommendations

Cited by 10 publications

References 10 publications

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the national HPV immunization program in Malaysia

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the national HPV immunization program in Malaysia

The impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on the prevalence and genotype distribution of HPV infection in Beijing, China

Regional and country-level trends in cervical cancer screening coverage in sub-Saharan Africa: A systematic analysis of population-based surveys (2000–2020)

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