There is a sliver of good news amid the current pall of Omicron and war drums over Ukraine. Cervical cancer, the second most common cause of cancer death globally in reproductive-aged women, could be the first cancer ever to be eliminated permanently.
“Cervical cancer is highly preventable and treatable,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, chief of the World Health Organization (WHO) said. “It could be the first cancer ever to be eliminated. WHO calls on all countries and partners to increase access to lifesaving HPV vaccination, and expand screenings, treatment and palliative care.”
In 2020, an estimated 342,000 women died from cervical cancer worldwide out of 604,000 diagnosed with the disease. Nearly 90 per cent of 2018 deaths occurred in low and middle-income countries, where the burden of cervical cancer is greatest, because access to public health services is limited and screening and treatment have not been widely implemented.
The majority of cervical cancers stem from Human Papillomavirus (HPV). The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends children receive two doses of the HPV vaccine at age 11 or 12. It can be started as early as age 9. The vaccine is also approved for adults up to age 45 who haven’t yet had it, but the best chance for prevention is to receive it at an earlier age.
Cervical cancer is largely preventable through both vaccination and screening for precursor lesions and with appropriate follow up and treatment, according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), an intergovernmental agency under the WHO umbrella.
To eliminate cancer of the cervix as a public health problem, every country must reach and maintain three key targets by 2030, WHO says. The first is for 90 per cent of girls to be fully vaccinated against HPV by age 15.
The second is to ensure that 70 per cent of women are screened using a high-performance test by age 35, and again by age 45. The third is for 90 per cent of women with pre-cancer to receive treatment and for 90 per cent of women with invasive cancer to have their condition properly managed.
WHO reports that women of color continue to be disproportionately affected by cervical cancer. Studies in various countries consistently document that Black women are dying of cervical cancer at several times the rate of white women. Today, 19 of the 20 countries with the highest cervical cancer burdens are in Africa.
For the past 70 years, the cells of Henrietta Lacks, a Black American woman who died of cervical cancer, have saved countless lives, and made numerous scientific breakthroughs possible, including HPV and polio vaccines, drugs for HIV treatment, and cancer and COVID-19 research.
In 1951, while Ms. Lacks sought treatment, researchers took biopsies from her body without her knowledge or consent, and her cells became the first “immortal” cell line, now known as the “HeLa cells”.
Tedros recognized her world-changing legacy with a special award in October 2021. WHO points out that the global scientific community once hid her race and her real story. The award hopes to help redress this historical wrong.
Giving the award, Tedros said the WHO “acknowledges the importance of reckoning with past scientific injustices and advancing racial equity in health and science.” The award was “an opportunity to recognize women, particularly women of color, who have made incredible but often unseen contributions to medical science”.