Lay knowledge of cervical cancer in Manhiça district, Mozambique: a qualitative study

BACKGROUND: Mozambique has one of the highest cervical cancer incidence rates in the world. Health interventions are still being conceived solely from a non-communicable disease standpoint despite that it is also a sexual and reproductive health problem. The objective of this study was to assess the extent to which lay perceptions of cervical cancer align with biomedical knowledge from the standpoint of sexual and reproductive health. METHODS: 10 focus group discussions were carried out with 10 target groups in Manhiça. The target groups were diverse in terms of age, sex, educational level and occupation. There were a total of 116 participants. The focus groups discussions were applied to obtain verbal information and trigger debates around beliefs and attitudes about cervical cancer as well as to explore notions of transmission and aetiology of the disease. The discussions were recorded for later transcription and analysis, following a combination of content and thematic analysis. RESULTS: Participants were familiar with the biomedical term ‘cervical cancer’ but knowledge of its aetiology and transmission was limited. Cervical cancer was readily associated to sexual transmission and sexually transmitted infections, and conceived as a ‘wound that does not heal’. The term ‘cancer’ caused confusion, as it was perceived to happen only in limbs, understood as hereditary, not transmissible and as an illness of the West. CONCLUSIONS: Lay perceptions of cervical cancer do, to a large extent, align with biomedical ones, thus, there is common ground to frame future health interventions from a sexual and reproductive health standpoint. Some misperceptions were identified which could be reduced through social behaviour change communication initiatives.