Objective To investigate the current situation of cervical cancer screening service capacity of county-level health service institutions in the project areas of Guangdong province, in order to provide evidence for the improvement of their screening capacity in the future.

Methods A questionnaire survey was conducted in 119 cervical cancer screening project management units in Guangdong Province. The main contents of the survey included the general information of cervical cancer screening, and the staff capacity building in terms of human papilloma virus (HPV) detection, cytology detection, colposcopy inspection, histopathology examination and project management.

Results Cervical cancer screening project in Guangdong Province was mainly administrated by the county health bureau, and the county maternal and child health hospital was mainly responsible for implementation and primary screening. High risk HPV typing test was the main screening method. Among all 154 cervical cancer screening county-level health service institutions, the percentage of full-time staff and those who received superior training from upper level for HPV testing, cytological examination, colposcopy inspection and histopathology examination were 38.31%(59), 25.32%(39), 64.94%(100), 18.83%(29) and 28.57%(44), 17.53%(27), 65.23%(102), 12.99%(22), respectively. There were 63.64% HPV testing, 75.32% cytological examination and 73.38% histopathology examination done by professional third party testing institutions.

Conclusion Under the joint cooperation with third-party testing institutions, most county-level medical institutions are capable of carrying out cervical cancer primary screening project in Guangdong Province, but they mainly rely on third-party institutions for HPV testing and cytological examination, and investment on full-time staff is insufficient. The government and higher authorities should strengthen unified management of third-party institutions, attach importance to training of grass-roots medical personnel, and enhance screening capacity of grass-roots medical institutions.