Over 275,000 women screened, target exceeded by 103%, and thousands of precancerous lesions treated on the spot.

Addis Ababa, 14 January 2026 – Ethiopia has celebrated the successful closure of an unprecedented month-long cervical cancer screening and treatment campaign in six selected regions, achieving and surpassing almost every target set just 30 days earlier.

Launched on 7th November 2025 in the presence of senior government officials, the World Health Organization (WHO), and the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), the campaign originally aimed to screen 267,662 eligible women aged 30–49 years, and 15–49 years for women living with HIV, across Addis Ababa, Amhara, Central Ethiopia, Oromia, Sidama and South Ethiopia.

Within only 30 days, 275,607 women were screened, representing 103% of the planned target. A total of 9,882 women were identified with precancerous lesions, and nearly 80% of them, approximately 7,836 women, received same-day treatment using cryotherapy, thermal ablation or loop electrosurgical excision procedure (LEEP), demonstrating that the “see-and-treat” approach can be delivered at scale in Ethiopia.

Over 1,036,222 people were reached through awareness and advocacy sessions, including 637,149 women directly engaged through community mobilization activities. Hundreds of health facilities, outreach sites, kebeles, churches, mosques, workplaces and markets were transformed into screening and education platforms with the active involvement of health extension workers, women’s groups and religious leaders.