Towards elimination of cervical cancer

• 6th September 2021

Last June, Dr. Jaap Koot, coordinator of PRESCRIP-TEC, talked about cervical cancer at the International Student Congress of (bio)Medical Sciences (ISCOMS), one of the World’s leading student congresses in medical sciences.

Dr. Koot stressed that nearly all cervical cancers are caused by infection with the human papillomavirus (HPV). The disease starts at a young age and kills over 250 000 women every year, most of them in low and middle-income countries. The good news is that cervical cancer can be prevented through:

• Vaccination of teenagers against HPV infection (Primary prevention)
• Screening of women for HPV infection and cervical lesions (Secondary prevention)
• Preventive treatment of cervical lesions (Tertiary prevention)

Dr. Jaap Koot explained that PRESCRIP-TEC proposes an innovative approach to make this process of prevention more accessible, more cost-effective and more convenient for women, through:

• Facilitating HPV self-testing at home. Statistics show that only about 25% of women will result positive, therefore 75% will not need further examination.
• Inviting the approximately 25% who need to be assessed for a visual inspection with acetic acid. PRESCRIP-TEC will use artificial intelligence to decide whether a lesion needs treatment or not, without the need for an on-site gynaecologist.
• Referring the women who need treatment of cervical lesions to medical services that can provide immediate assistance.

Learn all the details about how PRESCRIP-TEC contributes to the elimination of cervical cancer in the following video.