The WHO Regional Office for Europe (WHO/Europe) has urged its 53 member states, from Europe to Central Asia, to endorse a roadmap to accelerate the elimination of cervical cancer as a public health problem in the region.
According to WHO, despite cervical cancer being a preventable disease, more than 66,000 individuals are newly diagnosed with cervical cancer and more than 30,000 die each year in its European region.
Moreover, the organisation highlighted that across the region, the proportion of invasive cervical cancer cases detected at an early stage varies considerably from 35% to over 80% depending on the country.
Dr Nino Berdzuli, director of country health programmes at WHO/Europe, said: “As a gynaecologist who has treated women with cervical cancer, I have witnessed the fear people experience of a cancer growing in one’s body. Yet cervical cancer is preventable. No woman should die from it.
“A cervical cancer free future is within our grasp. This is a momentous opportunity for political and health leaders to achieve cervical cancer elimination. We have the knowledge and tools, but we need stronger and more consistent commitments to make elimination possible across our region.”
The Roadmap to accelerate the elimination of cervical cancer as a public health problem in the WHO European Region 2022–2030 outlines core principles, strategic shifts and priority actions to guide member states in reaching the 2030 targets set by the Global Strategy for Cervical Cancer Elimination.
Specifically, these targets include fully vaccinating 90% of girls with the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine by age 15, screening 70% of women using a high-performance test by age 35, and again by 45, as well as ensuring 90% of women identified with cervical disease receive treatment.
WHO outlined that some countries in the European region are already ‘well advanced’ on the road to elimination. Countries noted by WHO that have achieved ‘real success’ include the UK, one of the early adopters; Sweden, where women have the option to collect their own samples via self-sampling as part of an organised screening programme and Uzbekistan, with its high vaccination rates.
‘The route to addressing HPV may vary based on country contexts and resources, but the destination is the same – eliminating cervical cancer. Policymakers should seize this momentous opportunity to eliminate a cancer which needlessly kills and destroys the health of women in the prime of their lives,’ WHO said in a statement.