| Summary: | Background: Workers at tertiary health facilities may be expected to have good knowledge of cervical cancer and also good screening practices so that they could be good sources of health information and motivation to promote screening in the general public. An assessment of their perceptions and practice of cervical screening could reveal gaps that would inspire efforts to improve key indicators among them and in turn, the general population. Methods: This cross-sectional analytic study was conducted among 316 workers of a tertiary health facility selected by stratified random sampling with proportionate allocation. Data was collected using pretested semi-structured questionnaires and analysed with SPSS 20 and PEPI programs. Results: The majority of respondents were aware of cervical cancer but it was significantly higher among females, p=.001. Most respondents, 266 (84.2%) were less than 40 years of age but knowledge of cervical cancer screening diminished with increase in age, p=.039. Only 92 (29%) had good knowledge of cervical screening; a better knowledge of cervical screening was significantly associated with working in a clinical department, employment duration of less than 2 years, and being female. All females who had ever screened for Ca cervix, 18 (11%) had a Pap smear, and majority 15 (83%) had screened only once. Factors associated with screening were level of education, years of work experience, and being in a clinical department. Reasons given for not screening included pain from the procedure, its cost, and the delay with getting results. Conclusion: Knowledge of cervical screening was not good among staff of DELSUTH and practice of screening was also very poor. They may benefit from health education and promotion programmes directed towards better screening practices. Introduction of easier-to-perform and less costly screening modalities like VIA/VILI may also improve uptake. Keywords: Health promotion, Cervical screening, Health workers, Knowledge
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