Women have a remarkable ability: to carry, give birth to, and nurture life. But behind that strength, there are health risks that often go unnoticed, one of which is cervical cancer.

In Indonesia, cervical cancer remains a major threat to women. Every year, around 36,000 new cases emerge, and even more concerning, 70 percent are only detected at an advanced stage. This means many women seek medical help when the disease is already too late to prevent.

Why does this happen?

It is not because women do not care. Rather, awareness of early screening remains low. Only 7 percent of women aged 30–50 have ever undergone screening, with many feeling afraid, embarrassed, or unsure of where to begin (Tjokroprawiro, 2024). However, that story is gradually beginning to change thanks to an initiative called I-BISA.

I-BISA as an Effort to Tackle Cervical Cancer

I-BISA is a self-testing program designed to detect human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA, the virus that can trigger cervical cancer.

The program is run by Jalin Foundation, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Indonesia, Dharmais Cancer Hospital, and BD (Becton Dickinson) to expand access to screening in several areas, including West Jakarta (12 urban villages), Depok (8 urban villages), and Lebak (7 villages).

This initiative supports the National Action Plan for Cervical Cancer Elimination, in which the Ministry of Health targets 75 percent of women aged 30–69 to undergo HPV DNA testing as a preventive measure.

From August 12 to November 5, 2025, more than 5,500 women across these three regions have participated in the screening. The implementation was supported by 120 female community health volunteers, local health offices, and community leaders who provided education, training, and assistance on how to perform the self-test and the importance of screening. But this number is not just a statistic. Behind it are stories and the faces of women who came with hope.

Rivi, a field researcher who meets women with different stories every day, shared her experience. Some women arrived holding their friend’s hand, some laughed nervously, and others repeatedly asked whether the test would be painful. And all of those feelings are valid.

“Every woman who comes has her own character—some are panicked, some are happy, and some are afraid. So we have to approach them with different strategies so they won’t be afraid to join the screening,” said Rivi.

One of them was Mrs. Nurhayati from Kota Bambu Utara. At first, she was hesitant. The self-test felt unfamiliar, and even the word “HPV” alone made many people feel tense. However, after community health volunteers explained how it worked, her hesitation turned into courage.

“At first I was unsure about this test, but after they explained how the screening works, I felt encouraged to take part,” she said.

Accurate and More Comfortable Screening

In terms of results, HPV DNA self-testing has also proven to be highly accurate. Its sensitivity reaches around 96.2 percent, and its level of accuracy is almost the same as samples taken directly by healthcare workers (Duan et al., 2025).

The World Health Organization also notes that self-testing can increase the number of women willing to undergo screening because the process is more comfortable and less awkward. In addition, this self-testing method can help achieve the global target of 70 percent screening coverage by 2030(WHO, 2022).

As a result, training, education, and a friendly approach toward residents have made more women feel comfortable and willing to carry out self-screening. The positive response from the three regions shows that this method can significantly expand screening coverage.

Ultimately, initiatives like this need to be expanded so that more women can prevent and avoid cervical cancer while helping achieve the Ministry of Health’s National Action Plan for Cervical Cancer Elimination. Because prevention is always better than treatment.

So, have you ever tried an HPV DNA self-test? If not, let’s start checking your health from now on!

Reference

Duan, R., Yang, H., Zhai, X., Yu, J. 2025.  Accuracy and Acceptability of Self Sampling HPV Testing in Cervical Cancer screening: a population-based study in rural Yunnan, China. Scientific Reports: Nature portfolio 

Pratiwi, S., Trianto, H., Fatinah, N., Ilmiawan, M., Fitrianingrum, I., & Lestari, D. 2022. The Profile of Cervical Cancer Patients at Soedarso Hospital. Indonesian Journal of Cancer. 

Pusdatin Kementerian Kesehatan Republik Indonesia. 2018. Cancer Situation. Infodatin 31 (2) : 5 -5 

Tjokroprawiro, B., Novitasari, K., Saraswati, W., Yuliati, I., Ulhaq, R., & Sulistya, H. 2024. The challenging journey of cervical cancer diagnosis and treatment at the second-largest hospital in Indonesia. Gynecologic Oncology Reports, 51. WHO. 2022. Human papillomavirus (HPV) self-sampling as part of cervical cancer screening and treatment. WHO and HRP research for impact