# Same-day HPV test and heat treatment of precancer by nurses in low-income settings

Source: https://onco.cc/ideas/idea-prev-hpv-same-day-screen-and-treat/  
OnCo record `idea-prev-hpv-same-day-screen-and-treat` (Idea). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

Where women cannot return for results, test for HPV and treat any precancer the same day with a battery-powered heat probe. This is the fastest route to WHO's cervical elimination target.

## Summary

Where women cannot return for results, this idea has nurses test for HPV and treat any precancer the same day with a battery-powered thermal ablation probe, supported by point-of-care HPV testing and digital tracking and financed through Gavi and Global Fund mechanisms. WHO recommends HPV DNA testing as the primary screen and thermal ablation for screen-positive women in screen-and-treat settings, and loss to follow-up is the largest leak in low-income screening, so same-day delivery closes it. The test is a cluster RCT of same-day versus two-visit models in three countries. Being tested at scale, it addresses the bottlenecks Prevention we already have is not deployed and Most of the world has almost no cancer care.

## Fields

- Kind: Idea
- Last checked: 2026-09-08
- Hypothesis: Same-day programmes achieve at least 80% treatment completion of screen-positives (versus under 50% for multi-visit models) and reduce cervical cancer incidence by at least 30% in covered populations within ten years.
- Rationale: Loss to follow-up is the largest leak in low-income screening; same-day closes it.
- Proposed test: Cluster RCT of same-day versus two-visit models in three countries.
- Maturity: being-tested-at-scale
- Actor: policy

## Sources

- WHO cervical cancer elimination initiative: https://www.who.int/initiatives/cervical-cancer-elimination-initiative

## Connected records

- cancers: [Cervical cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/cervical/)
- fronts: [Prevention & Risk](https://onco.cc/fronts/prevention/)
- bottlenecks: [Most of the world has almost no cancer care](https://onco.cc/bottlenecks/b-global-access/), [Prevention we already have is not deployed](https://onco.cc/bottlenecks/b-prevention-adoption/)
- key papers: [Self-collected HPV samples are as accurate as clinician samples and reach women who never attend screening](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-hpv-self-sampling-bmj-2018/)
- technologies: [Visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA) for cervical screening](https://onco.cc/technologies/via-cervical-screening/)

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