Cervical cancer is largely preventable through regular screening and HPV vaccination, as recommended by national guidelines, and it can be cured if detected early and treated promptly.
Yet it remains the fourth most common cancer in women globally, with 660,000 new cases and around 350,000 deaths annually, with 94% of those in low and middle-income countries.
On 17 November 2020, 194 member states signed the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) Resolution to Eliminate Cervical Cancer as a Public Health Problem by 2030.
The Resolution set out three global targets to be met by 2030:
90% of girls fully vaccinated with HPV vaccination by age 15, 70% of women screened by ages 35 and 45, 90% of women with pre-cancer or invasive cancer receiving appropriate treatment.
The key to cervical cancer prevention lies in boosting public awareness, strengthening health literacy, and improving access to information and services.
- Cervical screening can detect cervical precancer, and when coupled with timely treatment, can prevent progression to cervical cancer.
- At any age, early detection of women with symptoms followed by prompt quality treatment can cure cervical cancer.
- Regular screening is essential to prevention, as it usually takes 15-20 years for abnormal cells to become cancer.
- In the UK, 30% of eligible women are still not attending their screening appointments.
The seventy-ninth World Health Assembly took place last month in Geneva, when ministers of health, policy leaders, partners and civil society called for stronger health systems and greater accountability to accelerate cervical cancer elimination.
Discussions centred on what it would take to turn political commitment into delivery: expanding HPV vaccination, bringing screening closer to communities, introducing self-sampling, strengthening referral pathways, closing treatment gaps and integrating cervical cancer services into primary health care. There needed to be investment in workforce capacity, improved affordability and ensuring that women, survivors and community voices shaped programmes, and held systems accountable.
The South African Minister of Health reflected that ‘none of this is abstract, behind every percentage is a woman who either received care in time or did not’.
The message was clear: Countries have the tools, evidence, and growing political commitment needed to eliminate cervical cancer. The challenge now is whether health systems can deliver prevention, screening, treatment and care equitably and consistently.
As 2030 approaches, success will depend on turning commitments into action and ensuring every woman, everywhere, can access the prevention, screening, treatment and care she needs. This is how countries move closer to the 90-70-90 targets, bringing elimination within reach.
Across the discussion, countries pointed to common priorities for the next phase: integrated services