Description
Background:
Women in Kenya face a rising burden of NCDs, particularly cervical and breast cancers, often diagnosed late due to low awareness and limited screening access. Community Health Promoters (CHPs) are vital in primary healthcare but remain underutilized in cancer and NCD prevention. Strengthening their capacity provides a scalable solution for early detection and service integration at the community level.
Methodology:
Under the Women Integrated Cancers and NCDs (WICs) project, the World Health Organization supported revision of the national CHP curriculum to include competencies on women’s cancers and NCDs. Content covered prevention, early detection, risk factor identification, and patient education, emphasizing practical, community-centered, and gender-sensitive communication. Modules addressed breast and cervical cancer screening, lifestyle counseling for hypertension and diabetes, and use of data tools for referrals and reporting. Training combined classroom and field sessions, and CHPs received toolkits with referral forms and digital tools to support integration.
Discussion:
CHPs empowered with updated knowledge, skills, and tools demonstrated improved integration of women’s cancer and NCD services into routine community care. Early outcomes included better awareness, increased screening uptake, and timely referrals to health facilities. Key challenges were resource constraints, supervision gaps, and the need for continuous mentorship. Inter-sectoral collaboration and policy support emerged as critical for sustainability and scale-up.
Conclusion:
Integrating women’s cancers and NCDs into CHP services through curriculum revision and training is a feasible and effective strategy to close health system gaps. Strengthening frontline health workers enhances community-level prevention and early detection, reducing premature mortality among women in Bungoma and Nyandarua counties. Lessons learned will inform national policy on integrated service delivery.
| Country | Kenya |
|---|---|
| Organization | Government of Kenya |
| Received a Grant? | No |
