The Fiji Cancer Society has purchased a GeneXpert machine to provide rapid HPV testing for cervical cancer screening, a move the organisation says will speed up diagnosis and improve treatment outcomes for women across the country. The machine, unveiled this week, can deliver test results in about 30 minutes to an hour, allowing clinicians and outreach teams to make follow-up decisions the same day and reduce the number of women lost to follow-up.
Chief Executive Belinda Chan described the purchase as a “significant step forward” in closing gaps in screening services, particularly outside major hospitals. Chan said the service targets women aged 30 to 59, the cohort the Society has identified for routine HPV testing. “You do the swab and your swab gets tested. It takes you about 30 minutes to an hour to get your results. If it’s negative, it means that you are normal and therefore you do not require a test for the next five years,” she said, stressing the role of rapid results in moving the focus from late-stage treatment to early detection and prevention.
The GeneXpert platform processes HPV DNA tests onsite, eliminating much of the delay that has hindered conventional cytology and centralized testing. Chan said the technology will help tackle long-standing logistical challenges — including samples being sent to distant laboratories, extended waits for results, and the consequent difficulty of ensuring patient follow-up. Faster turnaround, she noted, improves patient retention in care pathways and enables quicker referral for treatment where needed.
The Society intends to use the machine to support outreach screening in communities and corporate settings, expanding access beyond centralised health facilities. That approach is meant to reach women who face barriers to attending hospital-based clinics, whether due to distance, time constraints, or costs. Chan said bringing testing to workplaces and community events will make screening more convenient and acceptable for many women.
The announcement builds on recent national efforts to bolster cervical cancer prevention. Last year the Ministry of Health began rolling out self-swab HPV testing with same-day treatment in some settings to overcome reliance on a single cytology machine at Colonial War Memorial Hospital, which had created bottlenecks. The Fiji Cancer Society’s GeneXpert is complementary to those measures: by enabling rapid, onsite molecular testing, it can underpin same-day clinical decisions and broaden the geographic reach of screening programmes.
Chan emphasised the urgency of scaling up screening and vaccination as cancer cases rise in Fiji and pressure grows on existing health services. The Fiji Cancer Society reiterated its commitment to expanding early detection services, community education and vaccination awareness as part of a comprehensive strategy to reduce cervical cancer incidence and mortality.
The GeneXpert purchase marks a tangible new resource for the Society’s screening work, but it is one element of a larger effort to decentralise services and close gaps in the cancer care pathway. How quickly the machine will be deployed across outreach clinics and into corporate screening programmes was not specified; the Society said it will announce implementation details and schedules in due course.