The fight to end cervical cancer demands greater access and equity
January is Cervical Cancer Awareness Month: a global call-to-action for a disease that is preventable, but remains the fourth most common type of cancer among women. As a global community, we have the capabilities to eliminate cervical cancer as a public health threat, but only if we ensure that access to vaccination, screening and care is easy, early and equitable.
The fight to end cervical cancer is also a telling example for the future of healthcare overall. In 2024 and beyond, innovations in care delivery matter just as much as breakthroughs in the lab. We’re entering an exciting new era, with a growing set of vaccines, screening tests, diagnostic assays and treatments for an array of diseases. Yet these must be joined with on-the-ground strategies to reach the people and communities who need them most around the world.
In a sign of what’s possible, the World Health Organization launched a global strategy to eliminate cervical cancer. This is the kind of ambitious target we typically associate with diseases like polio or smallpox, but which may be in reach for cervical cancer in the decades ahead.
Ending this particular form of cancer requires practical solutions. It’s still a daunting challenge, with significant access barriers and health inequities. Cervical cancer caused more than 600,000 new cases and 340,000 deaths in 2020, with ~90 percent of deaths in low- and middle-income countries. And disparities persist in the United States, where Black and Hispanic communities face greater risk.
These impacts are all the more tragic given they are largely preventable. Barriers stand in the way, such as lack of awareness, stigma, lack of access to health care providers, limited health system capacity and confusion about who needs vaccination and screening. In the U.S., more than 70 percent of women say they have delayed getting a Pap screening test, and 60 percent of cervical cancer cases occur in women who have not been appropriately screened.
To fight cervical cancer and advance health equity, we need a collaborative, global effort to deliver the right innovations to those who need them, conveniently, privately and early.
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The WHO strategy provides a roadmap, with three pillars: vaccination against the human papillomaviruses (HPV) that cause virtually all cervical cancer; screening with high-performance HPV assays; and early treatment for those who develop pre-cancer or cancer.
HPV vaccination is the starting point, protecting against most forms of cervical cancer, yet vaccination rates remain lower than targets. COVID-19 showed that rapid progress on vaccination is possible, but only with concerted effort, education and community engagement.
We also need greater awareness and access to screening. Self-collection provides a convenient, private and accessible option to routine screening that allows patients to collect a sample themselves at home using a basic dry swab which is then mailed to the lab in a pre-labelled envelope. Countries from Kenya to Denmark to New Zealand are already using self-collection to improve screening rates and detect cancer earlier. While work is underway to bring this method to the U.S., it has not kept pace with others leading in these efforts and it’s critical that this work be accelerated to provide accessible and convenient screening methods to U.S. patients. Nearly 80 percent of U.S. women say they would be comfortable with self-collection, including key at-risk populations like young women and Black and Hispanic women.
Governments, health systems, non-profits, universities and the private sector are coming together to vigorously step up our collective response. At BD, we’re proud to be a critical partner in these efforts, through our technologies, partnerships and investments to strengthen health systems. We offer tools for precise screening, and we’re collaborating with partners like the U.S. Cancer Moonshot, the Javeriana University and ProFamilia in Colombia, Global Health Labs, Tata Memorial Centre, Cervical Cancer Prevention Program in Zambia, the Ministry of Health in Kenya, and many more to pilot models for greater screening coverage.
We have the tools to prevent and end cervical cancer. It’s time to activate the global healthcare ecosystem to enable health equity, access and early action – keys to supporting the health of millions of women and driving progress against this disease.
#cervicalhealthmonth #cervicalcancerprevention #healthequity #publichealth
Student at BD
9moAhhh..
Retired after 28 years with CR Bard Inc. at CR Bard Medical (Retired)
10moMaintain the fight. 🚫 to Cancer!
I agree, Tom, that accessibility and awareness are critical to making positive impacts on improving the health of those fighting cervical cancer.
Passionate about connecting those who are hungry, unstoppable and unreasonable, and that refuse to understand business just as it is and who want more
11moTom Polen, How do you perceive the role of technology and innovative approaches in addressing healthcare disparities, particularly in the context of preventive measures like at-home sample self-collection for cervical cancer screening?. Additionally, what strategies do you believe are essential for raising awareness and ensuring widespread adoption of such advancements to make a meaningful impact on global cervical cancer mortality rates?
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11moHow to Survive “The Great Healthcare Reset” https://bit.ly/3vlRLGS