A cervical cancer diagnosis should offer hope for treatment, but in Malawi, many women face significant barriers to care, including distance, cost, and a lack of specialists, which hampers their access to necessary services. FRANK HUMPHREYS of Malawi News Agency writes
For thousands of Malawian women, a cervical cancer diagnosis is only the beginning of a difficult journey in which distance, cost and limited specialist services can stand between them and potentially life-saving treatment.
The scale of the problem is stark. According to the Ministry of Health, the Global Cancer Observatory (GLOBOCAN) 2024 report recorded 23,246 new cancer cases and 13,676 cancer deaths in Malawi. Cervical cancer accounted for 6,773 cases, representing 29.1 percent of all cancers diagnosed in the country, making it the leading cancer affecting Malawian women.
The figures also point to the heavy cost of the disease. Ministry figures show that about 4,701 new cervical cancer cases were recorded in 2025, with approximately 3,340 deaths attributed to the disease. That translates to roughly nine deaths every day.
Health authorities attribute the high burden partly to the widespread prevalence of Human Papillomavirus (HPV), the infection responsible for most cervical cancer cases. Other factors, including late diagnosis, limited pathology services and lifestyle risks, continue to complicate the country's fight against cancer.
The challenge becomes even more pronounced for people living far from specialist treatment. Kamuzu Central Hospital (KCH) Cancer Centre in Lilongwe, which opened in
2025, remains the country's only public cancer treatment centre.
Health rights activist Dorothy Ngoma believes the facility represents an important step, but is not enough to meet the needs of a country where patients travel long distances to access specialised care.
"We are talking of one cancer centre for all Malawians. That is simply not enough. Cancer treatment is not something that you take lightly," Ngoma said.
She explained that cancer treatment often requires repeated hospital visits, specialized personnel and other forms of support over extended periods, placing a heavy financial burden on families.
For patients referred from districts such as Chitipa and Nsanje, the journey to Lilongwe can itself become a barrier. Ngoma said many families have to raise money for transport because patients are not routinely provided with transport allowances or ambulance transfers.
"These are the difficulties of having inadequate services reaching the poorest of the poor. Even when it is there, we should be relying on it, but it eludes the majority," she said. With treatment access still limited, the Ministry of Health is placing greater emphasis on prevention and early detection. Cervical cancer screening coverage currently stands at about 40 percent nationally, while health authorities are expanding screening services to rural health facilities and hard-to-reach communities.
The measures include mobile outreach clinics, integration of cervical screening into routine HIV and family planning services, and the expansion of Visual Inspection with Acetic Acid (VIA) screening.
HPV vaccination is another major part of the prevention strategy. Ministry figures indicate that vaccination reached 91 percent of targeted girls by late 2025. Ngoma welcomed the progress but stressed that vaccination efforts need to reach girls in schools and communities while addressing fears and misconceptions among parents.
"We have vaccines in the country. We have to reach out in schools, churches, and wherever these young girls are," she said.
Beyond access to services, health officials and advocates point to stigma and misinformation as persistent obstacles to early diagnosis. Some communities still associate cancer with witchcraft or regard it as contagious, while others view a diagnosis as an automatic death sentence.
Health authorities are responding through community education, counselling, peer support involving cancer survivors and efforts to encourage more women to undergo screening.
For Ngoma, prevention remains particularly important because of the difficulties associated with cancer treatment. She, however, sees the opening of the KCH Cancer Centre as a foundation on which Malawi can build.
"At least we have it. My hope is that we will continue developing it until such a time that our women can get this cancer treatment at home,” she said.
The country’s growing cancer burden therefore presents a challenge that extends beyond hospitals. Expanding screening and vaccination, tackling stigma and bringing specialist services closer to rural communities will be critical if Malawi is to reduce the number of women dying from a disease that, when detected early, can often be prevented or treated successfully.
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Dorothy Ngoma