Cervical Cancer Awareness and Screening Attitudes Among Women: A Cross-Sectional Study in Bangladesh

Awareness gaps persist in Dhaka cervical cancer screening

Most women attending a major hospital in Dhaka, Bangladesh, have heard of cervical cancer but lack the specific knowledge required to prevent it, according to a study published by Cureus.

While 87.6% of the 346 women surveyed at Dhaka Medical College Hospital’s Gynaecology Outpatient Department were aware of the disease, a deep dive into their actual understanding reveals significant vulnerabilities. The study, which tracked participants from July 2025 through June 2026, found that knowing a disease exists is a far cry from understanding how to avoid it.

This disconnect is a matter of life and death for thousands of women. In Bangladesh, cervical cancer is the second most common cancer among women, accounting for roughly 13.3% of all female cancer cases. Each year, the country sees approximately 9,640 new cases and about 5,826 deaths, largely because the disease is often caught too late.

Knowledge gaps hinder prevention

The data shows a troubling trend where general awareness does not translate into medical literacy. Even among the 303 women who had heard of the disease, the ability to identify its mechanics was strikingly low.

Many respondents could not identify the primary drivers of the illness. Specifically, only 28.4% of these women identified human papillomavirus (HPV) infection as a risk factor, and only 33.0% were aware of the existence of precancerous cervical lesions. Furthermore, 57.4% of the participants failed to identify key symptoms, such as unusual vaginal bleeding.

The study’s findings on screening attitudes are equally concerning:

Category	Percentage of Respondents
Knew screening could detect cancer	71.3%
Had sufficient screening attitudes	28.4%
Had insufficient screening attitudes	71.6%

While most women understood that screening is a tool for detection, more than seven out of ten possessed what researchers classified as insufficient attitudes toward the practice. This lack of readiness creates a massive hurdle for public health initiatives, even when the medical technology—such as Pap smears or HPV DNA testing—is physically available.

The global push for elimination

The situation in Dhaka reflects a broader struggle to meet international health benchmarks. The World Health Organization has set ambitious “90-70-90” targets for 2030 to eliminate cervical cancer as a public health problem.

These targets require vaccinating 90% of girls against HPV by age 15, ensuring 70% of women are screened at least twice by ages 35 and 45, and guaranteeing that 90% of those diagnosed receive appropriate care. Currently, the gaps in Bangladesh—ranging from sociocultural barriers to a lack of organized national screening programs—make these goals difficult to reach.

The economic and social stakes are high. When screening is bypassed due to misconception or lack of education, the healthcare system eventually bears the cost of treating advanced-stage cancers, which are far more resource-intensive and have much lower survival rates than precancerous lesions treated early.

Barriers to clinical uptake

Researchers noted that while age appeared to influence awareness levels, other sociodemographic factors like occupation did not show a significant association with how women viewed screening. This suggests that the issue isn’t strictly tied to a person’s social status or job, but rather to a systemic lack of targeted health education.

The study highlights a fundamental paradox in modern women’s health: the tools to prevent one of the world’s most common cancers exist and are effective, yet the “human element”—awareness and attitude—remains the primary point of failure. Without addressing why 71.6% of women hold insufficient attitudes toward screening, the availability of clinics may not be enough to stop the mortality rate.

The question remains whether existing health education strategies in Bangladesh can evolve quickly enough to close these knowledge gaps before the 2030 targets arrive.