Evaluation of an Integrated Population-Based Cancer Screening Programme in Low-Resource Settings: A Demonstration Model from Villupuram, South India.

Description

This paper reports on a demonstration model implemented to examine the design, execution, early outcomes and scalability of a population-based integrated cancer screening programme in Villupuram district, Tamil Nadu. This programme aims to strengthen the advocacy of cancer awareness and screening uptake for oral, breast, and cervical cancers through oral visual inspection (OVI), clinical breast examination (CBE), and HPV-DNA testing, while systematically assessing performance across the cancer screening and care continuum. The central aim of this model is to generate robust, context-specific evidence on outreach strategies, screening modalities, and determinants of uptake, thereby providing actionable insights to guide the optimisation of combined population-based cancer screening programmes and the formulation of future evidence-based policies.

Steps to reproduce

The programme targeted never-screened individuals in Villupuram and Vikravandi taluks, Tamil Nadu, India, covering 816,306 residents (410,346 males; 405,960 females) from November 2014 to July 2022. Household enumeration and health education were conducted by social workers, while community health workers performed cervical, breast, and oral cancer screening using oral visual inspection (OVI), clinical breast examination (CBE), and HPV-DNA testing. Women aged 30–59 years without prior cancer (n = 104,000; ~30% of females) were eligible for cervical and breast screening, and all tobacco users were included for oral cancer screening and cessation. Programme performance was evaluated across the screening continuum.

Institutions

• Cancer Institute (WIA)

  Tamil Nadu, Chennai

Categories

Funders

• Infosys (India)

  Bengaluru

Licence