One year of the Cervical Cancer Elimination movement. What is PRESCRIP-TEC doing?

• 12th November 2021

This Wednesday 17^th November 2021, we will mark the first anniversary of the first time the world has committed to eliminating a specific type of cancer: Cervical Cancer.

One year ago countries and communities across the globe engaged in the Cervical Cancer Elimination movement with a day of action. Cities across all five continents lit over 100 landmarks in the color teal – the color for the cervical cancer elimination movement. In addition, cervical cancer survivors shared their stories, public health experts played leading roles, and ambassadors of the cause represented a broad coalition of partners dedicated to eliminating cervical cancer.

On this day the World Health Organization (WHO) also launched a global strategy to accelerate the elimination of cervical cancer as a public health problem, with a resolution passed by 194 countries.

A global strategy to eliminate cervical cancer

A vision of a world where cervical cancer is eliminated as a public health problem. A vision for a threshold of 4 per 100 000 women-years for elimination as a public health problem. To achieve this the following 90-70-90 targets must be met by 2030 for countries to be on the path towards cervical cancer elimination:

According to the WHO, with this mathematical model:

• median cervical cancer incidence will fall by 42% by 2045, and by 97% by 2120, averting more than 74 million new cases of cervical cancer 
• the median cumulative number of cervical cancer deaths averted will be 300 000 by 2030, over 14 million by 2070, and over 62 million by 2120.

What is PRESCRIP-TEC doing to promote this strategy?

The Prevention and Screening Innovation Project Towards Elimination of Cervical Cancer (PRESCRIP-TEC) is a three-year project focusing on increasing the adoption of cervical cancer screening in regions of Bangladesh, India, Uganda and Slovakia where there are insufficient resources to routinely perform Pap tests. To achieve this goal, PRESCRIP-TEC is working on four areas to solve the main issues in a realistic and cost-effective way:

1. Informing and sensitising women about the screening process via the most frequently used media channels in their communities. This will lead to greater access to and acceptance of the screening programmes.
2. Facilitating self-testing at home to detect an infection with the human papillomavirus (HPV). This will make things much easier for many women because if the result is negative they do not need further examination in a clinic.
3. Introducing artificial intelligence in the VIA gynaecological examination (A method that has been scientifically proven to be effective) for those women who have an HPV infection. This cutting-edge technology improves diagnostic precision and makes the work easier for health workers.
4. Providing women who need treatment of cervical lesions immediate assistance, or referring them to other medical services if necessary.

With all these activities, PRESCRIP-TEC is promoting the World Health Organisation’s strategy for eliminating cervical cancer as a public health problem in the 21st century. 

Contact us if you need more information 

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