Cervical Cancer Elimination Day of Action 17 November 2023 – Importance & History

Cervical cancer is a health condition that can be prevented, and it is also manageable if diagnosed early and appropriately treated. However, it is one of the most frequent tumours and causes of cancer-related death in women worldwide.

The World Health Organisation's (WHO's) Global Strategy for the Eradication of Cervical Cancer, a public health problem, presents an action plan for 2030, with the following 90-70-90 targets:

• Nearly 90% of girls are fully vaccinated with the HPV vaccine by age 15
• Nearly 70% of women are screened with a high-performance test between the ages of 35 and 45.
• Nearly 90% of women identified with cervical disease receive treatment (90% of women with pre-cancer managed; 90% of women with invasive cancer managed)

A mathematical model that depicts the following intermediate benefits of reaching the 90-70-90 targets in low- and lower-middle-income nations by 2030:

• The median cervical cancer incidence rate will reduce by 42% by 2045 and 97% by 2120, avoiding more than 7.4 crores of new cases;
• The median cumulative no. of cervical cancer deaths prevented will be 3,00,000 by 2030, over 1.4 crores by 2070, and more than 6.2 crores by 2120. 

Cervical cancer is one of the top five (4th) malignancies in women globally, accounting for an estimated 5,70,000 new cases in 2018. Every country is affected, but the prevalence is higher in low- and middle-income countries. In the highest-risk countries, age-standardised incidence rates range from 75 per 1,00,000 women to less than 10 per 1,00,000 women in the lowest-risk countries.

In 2018, about 90% of the 3,11,000 deaths globally occurred in low- and middle-income nations. Furthermore, in many low- and middle-income countries, the proportion of women with cervical cancer condition who die from the disease is greater than 60%, which is more than twice the proportion in many high-income countries, where it is as low as 30%.

As per the WHO 2018 report, the global burden of cervical cancer is likely to rise further, reaching 7,00,000 cervical cancer cases and 4,00,000 deaths by 2030, with similar increases forecast in subsequent years, which represent a 21% increase in cases and a 27% increase in deaths. The vast majority of these increases will affect women in low- and middle-income countries, highlighting the severity of the global disparity in cervical cancer morbidity and mortality. The Cervical Cancer Elimination Day of Action is a global agenda that aids in eliminating and preventing cervical cancer globally.

In 2020, 194 countries resolved to eliminate cervical cancer for the first time. The World Health Organisation (WHO) launched a global strategy to eliminate cervical cancer as a public health problem. The WHO's goal is to eliminate cervical cancer by 2030.

There are certain measures one can take to reduce the risk of cervical cancer: 

• Practicing safe sex
• Maintaining good personal hygiene
• Having fewer sexual partners and delaying intercourse
• Quitting smoking