ABSTRACT
Background: cervical cancer is a spectrum that ranges from dysplasia to invasive cancer. The late stage of the disease result with distant metastasis involving surrounding tissues and deposits in organs like the liver, lungs and bones. Poor public health awareness has contributed to late diagnosis of this disease, therefore there is need to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice with regards to cervical cancer screening. Market women continue to be the economic driving force of families in many parts of Nigeria. The awareness will therefore reduce the burden of the disease. Methodology: A cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out by using systematic sampling to collect data through administered questionnaires to 253 market women in Yola metropolis. Result: The result showed majority of the market women have heard about cervical cancer (74.0%), 74.9% of them heard about screening, there was also good attitude, however the practice was poor. Women with formal education have taken up cervical cancer screening than those with non formal education, it was statistically not significant (x2 = 4.248, P = 0.120). As only 72 women have carried out cervical cancer screening. Conclusion: The study established that level of knowledge on cervical cancer screening was high but practice was low as 28.5% of the respondents ever had cervical cancer screening. Therefore, sustained public health awareness should be encouraged in order to increase the utilization of screening service in all health facilities.