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Background: Health workers in resource-poor settings have not demonstrated a comprehensive knowledge of visual staining procedures for cervical cancer screening. This study adopted competency-based training (CBT) to determine if it will improve their knowledge, and potentially expand screening coverage.Methods: A quasi-experimental (pretest-posttest) design was adopted in this study conducted among primary health care workers in Ethiope-West Local Government Area of Delta State, Southern Nigeria. The participants had a competency-based training following an initial assessment of their knowledge. Data were analysed using SPSS version 22. The main outcome measures were baseline knowledge of cervical cancer, its prevention, and visual inspection screening techniques, as well as the effect of CBT on knowledge.Results: Participants demonstrated correct knowledge of cervical anatomy/physiology and cervical cancer epidemiology/symptomatology to varying degrees, although their knowledge of visual inspection with acetic acid or Lugol’s iodine (VIA/VILI) was grossly inadequate as only half had adequate knowledge. Knowledge of prevention, performance of VIA and VILI, as well as overall knowledge, improved significantly to 100% post-intervention (p=0.002, p<0.001 and p=0.003 respectively). Mean knowledge scores drastically increased among the PHWs between pre-CBT and post-CBT. The lowest mean difference was recorded for knowledge of cervical anatomy/physiology: 17.58 (CI: 8.16 - 27.00); while the highest was for knowledge of VILI/VIA technique: 41.01 (CI: 29.40 - 52.62).Conclusions: CBT significantly improved knowledge of cervical cancer prevention and visual inspection screening methods (VIA and VILI), indicating a window of opportunity for expanding screening services at primary health care level.

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Objectives: To assess health professionals’ perception and determinants of their health and practice of preventive self-care Methods: An analytic cross-sectional design was employed, and 232 professionals were selected by stratified sampling from all health professional departments of Delta State University Teaching Hospital. Healthcare professionals who had worked in the hospital for at least six months were included in the sampling frame. Pregnant women and supernumerary professionals were excluded. A self-administered questionnaire was used, and data analysed using SPSS. The main outcome measures were the level of perception of self-health and level of practice of preventive selfcare. Results: More than four-fifths of doctors and 64.8% of nurses had good perception of their health, with significant association between perception and service area (X2 = 11.828, p =0.008). Screening practice was lowest amongst doctors except for HIV/HBV screening. Whereas 63.4% of all participants adjudged their BMI to be normal, only 36.2% actually had normal BMI, the difference being significant (p <0.001). Almost 20% of doctors had not had a BP check in a year or more, and the same proportion of doctors and nurses had never checked their FBS. The proportion of personnel who had never checked their serum lipid profile was high among nurses (76.1%) and doctors (58.3%). Conclusion: Respondents had good perception but poor preventive behaviour, beginning management after disease onset. This may be ominous for the sector. Urgent health promotion action to safeguard productivity is needed. Comprehensive data from a multi-centre study will provide a deeper understanding of the issue.