Cervical cancer: Senegal aims for a 25% reduction in mortality by 2029, but screens less than 15% of women

Senegal has set a goal to reduce cancer-related mortality by at least 25% by 2029, in accordance with its 2025-2029 National Cancer Control Plan. The announcement was reiterated on Friday, October 3, 2026, in Dakar, at the opening of the 5th national and 4th international congress of the Senegalese Society of Colposcopy and Human Papillomavirus-related Pathology (SSPP), by Abdallah Wade, representative of the Ministry of Health and Public Hygiene, reports the Senegalese Press Agency (APS).

The tools already exist

The country is not without resources. Vaccination against the human papillomavirus (HPV), the main cause of cervical cancer, was integrated into the Expanded Program on Immunization in 2018. Screening for precancerous lesions is being progressively incorporated into the healthcare offering, according to the APS. The national strategy is structured around four pillars: strengthening prevention, improving screening, promoting early diagnosis, and organizing patient care.

"Our true success will not just be having vaccines, tests, or skills," warned Abdallah Wade, for whom the challenge is ensuring that "a girl is vaccinated," that "a woman is screened," and that a precancerous lesion is treated in time.

Screening, the weak link

This is precisely where the numbers do not add up. Cervical cancer screening reaches less than 15% of women in Senegal, according to gynecologist-obstetrician Omar Gassama, quoted on October 1, 2026. Access to specialized care remains particularly difficult for women in rural areas.

Yet, this cancer is one of the few that we know how to both prevent with a vaccine and cure when detected early. Every woman diagnosed at an advanced stage therefore represents an avoidable failure of the healthcare system, not a biological inevitability.

A continental battle

The situation goes beyond Senegal: everywhere on the continent, the obstacle is not science, which knows how to prevent and treat this cancer, but rather healthcare chains that must function from the village health post to the referral center.

In Senegal, the trajectory set for 2029 will therefore be determined less in congresses than in health posts: the number of girls actually vaccinated, the number of women screened outside of Dakar, and the delay between an abnormal smear test and its treatment. "Our challenge is no longer knowing what needs to be done. Our challenge is to move faster," summarized Dr. Madjiguène Ba, of the SSPP.