The Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) says that Cervical Cancer elimination is threatened by the COVID-19 Pandemic and a lack of funding. However UICC continues to work to increase access to screening and treatment. Details follow in this press release from UICC:
- HPV vaccination coverage to prevent cervical cancer has improved globally but COVID-19 has slowed the rate of implementation of routine immunisation programmes.
- Disruptions caused by pandemic, including delays in vaccination, screening, treatment and scale-up of measures, threaten to undermine efforts to reach global elimination targets and could lead to a significant increase in cervical cancer-related deaths in 78 LMICs.
- Among other actions, UICC is working to increase access to screening and treatment in LMICs through SUCCESS (Scale-up Cervical Cancer Elimination with Secondary prevention Strategy), a project funded by Unitaid and led by Expertise France in collaboration with Jhpiego and UICC.
A year after the launch of WHO’s Global Strategy to eliminate cervical cancer, the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) draws attention to the impact of delays due to COVID-19 in implementing the Strategy, while emphasising the importance of mobilising greater funding in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).
LMICs continue to carry an overwhelming share of the global burden of cervical cancer, accounting for some 90% of all related premature deaths. Few diseases so starkly reflect global health discrepancies and inequity.
As of June 2020, over half of WHO Member States had introduced vaccination against the human papillomavirus (HPV), which causes most cases of cervical cancer, and UICC welcomes and is encouraged by this development. While HPV vaccination has been available since 2007, 95% of the more than 100 million girls vaccinated between 2007-2017 are from high-income countries where immunisation programmes are now routine.
COVID-19 has now slowed the implementation of new immunisation programmes. The pandemic has caused delays and disruptions to ongoing trials of one-dose HPV vaccination, screening programmes, treatments, as well as to the supply of reagents and testing systems diverted to the COVID-19 response. These disruptions are undermining efforts in prevention and treatment to reach global elimination targets for cervical cancer.
The COVID-19 and Cancer Global Modelling Consortium, of which UICC is a part, presented findings at UICC’s recent World Cancer Leaders’ Summit that highlighted the risk of a significant increase in cervical cancer-related deaths in 78 LMICs due to delays in vaccination, screening, treatment and scale-up of measures.
“The threat of a significant rise in cervical cancer-related deaths due to disruptions caused by COVID-19 to vaccination and screening programmes and treatment should serve to reaffirm global commitment to elimination and the importance of building more resilient and equitable health systems,” says Dr Cary Adams, CEO of UICC. “An average of USD 0.40 per person per year in low-income settings is required to finance elimination through vaccination, screening and early treatment. Alongside the lives saved, the return is substantial in terms of improved health for women, higher participation of women in the workforce, and greater family and social cohesion and stability.”
Rwanda demonstrates that it is possible for low-income countries to achieve WHO targets. In 2011, the country became the first African nation to implement an HPV vaccination programme. As a result, population-level coverage increased from 6% for girls born in 1993 up to a maximum of 99% for those born in 2002. In line with the other pillars of the Strategy, Rwanda also implemented a Screen, Notify, See, and Treat cervical cancer screening programme in 2013 for women aged 35-45.
Overall, a comprehensive programme to implement HPV vaccination and screening in 50 LMICs could avert 5.2 million cases, 3.7 million deaths and 22 million Disablity-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) over ten years, at a total cost of USD 3.2 billion per year.
Supporting the cancer community to accelerate cervical cancer elimination
UICC continues to deploy a comprehensive set of activities in support of the implementation of the Global Strategy, for example, in working to increase access to screening and treatment in LMICs through SUCCESS (Scale-up Cervical Cancer Elimination with Secondary prevention Strategy), a project funded by Unitaid and led by Expertise France in collaboration with Jhpiego and UICC. The project supports four target countries (Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Guatemala and the Philippines) and seeks to share the learning and expertise gained to other LMICs in the respective regions.
The project has overseen an expansion of HPV testing, training of clinical and laboratory staff, strengthening of diagnostic capacity and an increase in the number of devices available for the treatment of precancerous lesions. In addition, the SUCCESS project aims to mobilise and support civil society to raise awareness and advocate for improved cervical cancer screening and treatment, long-term sustainability and the implementation of the Strategy at the national level.
