Table 1.

Search strategies

Search #	Search Texts and Syntaxes	Date	Output
PubMed
#1	“Uterine Cervical Neoplasms” OR “cervical neoplasm” OR “Cervical cancer” OR “cervix neoplasm” OR “cervix cancer” AND	22/02/2021
#2	“Vaginal Smears” OR Papanicolaou OR “pap smear” OR “pap stain” OR “pap test” OR “vaginal smear” OR “Mass Screening” OR “Early Diagnosis” OR “cervical screening” OR “Cervical cancer examination” OR “early detection” OR “early diagnosis” OR early detect* AND
#3	barrie* OR obstacle* OR challeng* AND
#4	Afghanistan* OR Albania OR Algeria OR Angola OR Argentina OR Armenia OR Azerbaijan OR Bangladesh OR Belarus OR Beliz OR Benin OR Bhutan OR Bolivia OR Bosnia OR Herzegovin OR Botswana OR Brazil OR Bulgaria OR “Burkina Faso” OR Burundi OR “Cabo Verde” OR Cambodia OR Cameroon OR “Central Africa” OR Chad OR China OR Chinese OR Colombia OR “Comoro Islands’ OR Congo OR “Costa Rica” OR “Cote d’Ivoir” OR “Ivory Coast” OR Cuba OR Djibouti OR “Dominican Republic” OR Ecuador OR Egypt OR “El Salvador” OR Eritrea OR Ethiopia OR Fiji OR Gabon OR Gambia OR Ghana OR “Guinea Bissau” OR Kenya* OR Lesotho* OR Liberia* OR Libya* OR Macedonia* OR Madagascar OR Malawi OR Malaysia OR Mali OR * OR Mauritius OR Morocco* OR Mozambique OR Namibia OR Niger OR Nigeria OR Pakistan OR Rwanda OR “Sao Tome” OR Senegal OR Seychelles OR “Sierra Leon” OR Somalia OR South Africa OR Sudan OR “Sri Lanka” OR Tanzania OR Togo OR Tunisia OR Uganda OR Zambia OR Zimbabwe OR Africa* OR resource-poor OR low-resource OR limited-resource OR resource-constrain* OR under-resource* OR poor*-resource* OR resource-scarce* OR scarce*-resource* OR low-income OR middle-income OR “low income” OR “middle income” or LMIC*
#1 AND #2 AND #3 AND #4			385 articles
Scopus
#1	“Uterine Cervical Neoplasms” OR “cervical neoplasm” OR “Cervical cancer” OR “cervix neoplasm” OR “cervix cancer” AND “Vaginal Smears” OR papanicolaou OR “pap smear” OR “pap stain” OR “pap test” OR “vaginal smear” OR “Mass Screening” OR “Early Diagnosis” OR “cervical screening” OR “Cervical cancer examination” OR “early detection” OR “early diagnosis” OR early AND detect AND barrier OR obstacle OR challenge AND afghanistan OR albania OR algeria OR angola OR argentina OR armenia OR azerbaijan OR bangladesh OR belarus OR beliz OR benin OR bhutan OR bolivia OR bosnia OR herzegovin OR botswana OR brazil OR bulgaria OR “Burkina Faso” OR burundi OR “Cabo Verde” OR cambodia OR cameroon OR “Central Africa” OR chad OR china OR chinese OR colombia OR “Comoro Islands” OR congo OR “Costa Rica” OR “Cote d’Ivoir” OR “Ivory Coast” OR Cuba OR djibouti OR “Dominican Republic” OR ecuador OR egypt OR “El Salvador” OR eritrea OR ethiopia OR fiji OR gabon OR gambia OR ghana OR “Guinea Bissau” OR kenya OR lesotho OR liberia OR libya OR macedonia OR madagascar OR malawi OR malaysia OR mali OR mauritius OR morocco OR mozambique OR namibia OR niger OR nigeria OR pakistan OR rwanda OR “Sao Tome” OR senegal OR seychelles OR “Sierra Leon” OR somalia OR “South Africa” OR sudan OR “Sri Lanka” OR tanzania OR togo OR tunisia OR Uganda OR zambia OR zimbabwe OR africa OR resource-poor OR low-resource OR limited-resource OR resource-constrain OR under-resource OR poor-resource OR resource-scarce OR scarce-resource OR low-income OR middle-income OR “low income” OR “middle income” OR lmic	24/02/2021	1280 articles
Web of Science
#1	TS = “Uterine Cervical Neoplasms” OR TS = “cervical neoplasm” OR TS = “Cervical cancer” OR TS = “cervix neoplasm” OR TS = “cervix cancer” AND TS = “Vaginal Smears” OR TS = papanicolaou OR TS = “pap smear” TS=OR “pap stain” OR TS = “pap test” OR TS = “vaginal smear” OR TS = “Mass Screening” OR TS = “Early Diagnosis” OR TS = “cervical screening” OR TS = “Cervical cancer examination” OR TS = “early detection” OR TS = “early diagnosis” OR TS = early OR TS = detect AND TS = barrier OR TS = obstacle OR challenge AND TS = afghanistan OR TS = albania OR TS = algeria OR TS = angola OR TS = argentina OR TS = armenia OR TS = azerbaijan OR TS = bangladesh OR TS = belarus OR TS = beliz OR TS = benin OR TS = bhutan OR TS = bolivia OR TS = bosnia OR TS = herzegovin OR TS = botswana OR TS = brazil OR TS = bulgaria OR TS = “Burkina Faso” OR TS = burundi OR TS = “Cabo Verde” OR TS = cambodia OR TS = cameroon OR TS = “Central Africa” OR TS = chad OR TS = china OR TS = chinese OR TS = colombia OR TS = “Comoro Islands” OR TS = congo OR TS = “Costa Rica” OR TS = “Cote d’Ivoir” OR TS = “Ivory Coast” OR TS = cuba OR TS = djibouti OR TS = “Dominican Republic” OR TS = ecuador OR TS = egypt OR TS = “El Salvador” OR TS = eritrea OR TS = ethiopia OR TS = fiji OR TS = gabon OR TS = gambia OR TS = ghana OR TS = “Guinea Bissau” OR TS = kenya OR TS = lesotho OR TS = liberia OR TS = libya OR TS = macedonia OR TS = madagascar OR TS = malawi OR TS = malaysia OR TS = mali OR TS = mauritius OR TS = morocco OR TS = mozambique OR TS = namibia OR TS = niger OR TS = nigeria OR TS = pakistan OR TS = rwanda OR TS = “Sao Tome” OR TS = senegal OR TS = seychelles OR TS = “Sierra Leon” OR TS = somalia OR TS = “South Africa” OR TS = sudan OR TS = “Sri Lanka” OR TS = tanzania OR TS = togo OR TS = tunisia OR TS=Uganda OR TS = zambia OR TS = zimbabwe OR TS = africa OR TS = resource-poor OR TS = low-resource OR TS = limited-resource OR TS = resource-constrain OR TS = under-resource OR TS = poor-resource OR TS = resource-scarce OR TS = scarce-resource OR TS = low-income OR TS = middle-income OR TS = “low income” OR TS = “middle income” OR TS = lmic	26/02/2021	461 articles
	Google scholar		18
	Google and networks		4
Total number of articles retrieved			2148 articles