Women urged to utilise government subsidy for cervical cancer screening
Published:Monday | April 20, 2026 | 8:24 PM
Director of Non-Communicable Diseases and Injuries Prevention in the Ministry of Health and Wellness, Dr Tamu Davidson, is imploring women aged 21 and older to take advantage of the government's subsidy for cervical cancer screening.
The $1,300 subsidy being offered by the Ministry in partnership with the National Health Fund (NHF), is aimed at reducing the financial barriers women face in getting tested to ensure early cancer detection.
“We are encouraging our women to ensure they get screened… . We no longer want to see any more of our sisters, our mothers, our grandmothers dying from a preventable disease,” said Davidson during an interview with JIS News.
She advised that screening can often be arranged during routine visits to health facilities, including appointments for other medical concerns.
She informed that the subsidised services are available year-round, with intensified outreach activities taking place periodically to boost participation.
Improving access to screening is part of a comprehensive strategy to address cervical cancer, which is a leading cause of cancer-related deaths among Jamaican women.
The focus is in keeping with the global strategy to eliminate cervical cancer by 2030.
Davidson said that cervical cancer is a major public health priority for Jamaica.
She noted that while there has been a steady decline in cervical cancer deaths, the incidence of the disease remains high, noting that the rate of new cases in Jamaica remains higher than both global and Caribbean averages.
Screening is a critical pillar of the national strategy. Davidson told JIS News that the goal is to ensure that at least 70 per cent of women are screened using high-performance tests by age 35 and again at age 45.
Early detection, she pointed out, allows for the identification and treatment of pre-cancerous lesions before they develop into life-threatening conditions.
Central to the national response is achieving 90 per cent vaccination coverage among girls up to age 15 for the human papillomavirus (HPV), which is the primary cause of cervical cancer. The vaccination programme has now been extended to include boys.
The Ministry is also targeting 90 per cent treatment rate for women diagnosed with pre-cancerous lesions.
Davidson told JIS News that achieving these combined targets by 2030 would place Jamaica firmly on the path to eliminating cervical cancer, which she noted, is one of the few cancers that can be eradicated through effective public health measures.
A major advancement in Jamaica’s screening programme is the introduction of HPV testing, which Davidson said has been a “game changer”.
The test enables early detection of cancer-causing strains of HPV, which are responsible for approximately 99 per cent of cervical cancer cases. The screening method is currently being rolled out in selected health centres before a nationwide expansion.
The Ministry’s efforts are supported by guidelines from the World Health Organization (WHO), which continues to provide updated recommendations on screening, treatment, and vaccination strategies.
The WHO’s global strategy, endorsed by member states in 2020, sets ambitious targets for eliminating cervical cancer by 2030, reinforcing Jamaica’s ongoing initiatives to safeguard the health and well-being of its population.
- JIS News
Follow The Gleaner on X and Instagram @JamaicaGleaner and on Facebook @GleanerJamaica. Send us a message on WhatsApp at 1-876-499-0169 or email us at onlinefeedback@gleanerjm.com or editors@gleanerjm.com.