Can At-Home HPV Testing Help More Women in Rural Kenya Get Screened for Cervical Cancer?

Cervical cancer remains one of the deadliest cancers for women across Africa, and in Kenya the picture is particularly stark. It's the top contributor to cancer deaths among women in the country, yet only around 16% of women ever get screened. A new qualitative study published in BMC Women's Health looked at a possible way to close that gap: letting women collect their own HPV samples instead of relying on a clinical pelvic exam.

Testing self-collection at a community gathering

Researchers worked with women in Webuye Sub County, a rural area in Western Kenya, during a "chama" — a local community meeting often used for health education. Twenty women attending the session were offered a self-collection kit called the Evalyn Brush, which allows a woman to gather her own cervical sample for HPV testing in private, rather than undergoing a speculum exam performed by a clinician.

Fifteen of the twenty women went ahead and used the kit. The other five declined. Afterward, researchers conducted in-depth interviews with all 20 participants, both those who tried self-sampling and those who didn't, to understand what shaped their decisions. The study team analyzed the interviews using a framework called the Health Belief Model, which looks at how people weigh perceived risks, benefits, and barriers when deciding whether to take a health action.

What made women willing to try it

Among the women who accepted the kit, a clear theme emerged: understanding what cervical cancer is and how it develops seemed to be a major motivator. Women who felt most at risk were generally those who recognized having multiple sexual partners as a risk factor, suggesting that basic knowledge about HPV transmission played a role in their willingness to screen.

Several women also described the appeal of doing the sampling themselves. Being able to collect the sample in private, without a provider present, gave them a sense of control over the process. The group setting of the chama appeared to matter too — women described drawing confidence from seeing peers go through the same experience, which seemed to ease hesitation and normalize the idea of screening.

Why some women said no

The women who declined self-sampling raised a different set of concerns. Some worried about physical discomfort, including fears of pain, bruising, or bleeding from the brush device, even though they hadn't necessarily experienced these effects themselves. Others were anxious about what a positive result might mean, reflecting a broader fear of receiving a cervical cancer diagnosis.

Privacy and stigma came up as well. Even in a familiar community setting, some women were wary of being seen participating in a cancer screening activity, worried about how others might perceive or judge them. These concerns echo barriers to screening documented in other low-resource settings, where fear and social stigma often outweigh awareness of the benefits of early detection.

Why this approach might matter for screening access

The study's authors frame self-sampling as a potential tool for increasing HPV screening uptake in places where clinical infrastructure, trained staff, or cultural comfort with pelvic exams limit participation. Because the sample is collected by the woman herself, it sidesteps some of the logistical and emotional barriers tied to clinic-based exams.

This was a small, qualitative study of just 20 women in one rural sub-county, designed to explore feasibility and attitudes rather than to measure how self-sampling affects actual screening rates or cancer outcomes on a larger scale. The findings offer insight into what helps or discourages uptake in this specific community, but they describe associations between beliefs and behavior rather than proof that self-sampling programs will shift cervical cancer statistics nationally.

What this could mean going forward

Public health programs aiming to expand cervical cancer screening in similar settings might consider pairing self-sampling kits with community education efforts, since knowledge about HPV and cancer risk appeared closely tied to willingness to participate here. Addressing fears about pain and diagnosis, along with protecting privacy during screening events, may also be worth factoring into program design.

Women considering HPV screening or self-sampling options should talk with their own healthcare provider about what's appropriate for their individual situation. This research offers a window into community attitudes in one part of Kenya, not personalized medical guidance.

Source: BMC Women's Health, DOI: 10.1186/s12905-026-04833-0, based on a qualitative study by Mwanzia, Biederman, Draucker Burke, and Champion examining women's experiences with HPV self-sampling in rural Western Kenya.