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

Abstract Background Mozambique has one of the highest cervical cancer incidence rates in the world. Health interventions are still being conceived from a non-communicable disease standpoint despite it being a sexual and reproductive health concern. 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 FGD were carried out with 10 target groups in Manhiça. The target groups were diverse and ranged from of adolescent girls to informal drug vendors. There were a total of 116 participants. The FGD were used 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 doesn’t 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.