Results of Early Detection of Cervical Cancer in Indonesian Women Through IVA in 2024

The 2024 Indonesian Health Profile report from the Ministry of Health (Kemenkes) reveals that 4,809,389 Indonesian women aged 30-50 have undergone early detection screening for cervical cancer through visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA) in 2024.

Of this number, 30,457 women, or 0.63% of the total, tested positive for VIA. Meanwhile, 730 women, or 0.02%, were suspected of having cervical cancer.

VIA examinations can be performed at primary healthcare facilities (FKTP). From 2022-2024, Kemenkes recorded that 10,009,516 women aged 30-50, or 23.59% of the target population, had undergone early detection for cervical cancer using the VIA method.

The highest early detection rates were reported by West Nusa Tenggara Province at 67.04%, followed by Banten at 57.39%, and West Java at 51.72%. Conversely, the provinces with the lowest early detection coverage were South Papua (0.02%) and Highland Papua (0.39%).

Kemenkes states that cervical cancer and breast cancer are the most common types of cancer in Indonesia. Both types of cancer have high mortality rates due to delayed diagnosis and management.

"Almost 70% of cancer patients are detected at an advanced stage. This is very unfortunate, as cervical cancer can be detected at a pre-cancerous stage (pre-cancerous lesions) and treated to prevent it from developing into cancer," Kemenkes wrote in its report.

It should be noted that VIA is a simple, fast, and inexpensive early screening tool for detecting pre-cancerous lesions in the cervix. If the test result is positive, patients do not need to panic as they can undergo further examinations, such as a Pap smear or biopsy, at advanced healthcare facilities to obtain more accurate results.