Background: Cervical cancer is a significant health concern, particularly for women living with HIV/AIDS, as they are more vulnerable to the development of this disease. Understanding their knowledge, attitude and practices towards cervical cancer screening is crucial for improving preventive measures and healthcare services. Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) is the primary cause of cervical cancer. Early sexual activity, multiple partners, tobacco use, long term use of oral contraceptives, low socioeconomic status, immunosuppressive medicine, dietary deficiency and family history of the disease are all risk factors for cervical cancer. The primary intervention is to offer HPV vaccination, secondary intervention is screening and pre-cancer treatment and tertiary intervention includes cancer diagnosis, treatment and palliative care.
Objective: the purpose of the study was to determine the level of knowledge, attitude and practices towards cervical cancer screening among women infected with HIV/AIDS attending CTC at Bugando Medical Centre.
Methodology: cross sectional study was done at CTC at Bugando Medical Centre where structured questionnaires was used and data entry and analysis was done through SPSS software.
Results: This study has shown that women who are infected with HIV/AIDS had inadequate knowledge, negative attitude and bad (poor) practice pertaining cervical cancer screening. The findings revealed significant difference in knowledge level by age, attitude towards cervical cancer screening were significantly associated with practice towards cervical cancer screening of respondents. Knowledge score in this study is found to be 43.6%
Conclusion: Knowledge towards cervical cancer screening is bad among women infected with HIV/AIDS attending care treatment at BMC, negative attitude, and bad practice towards cervical cancer screening