Cervical Cancer Initiative
Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer among women worldwide. Each year, worldwide 530,000 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer and the disease kills 275,000 women, with 88% of the deaths occurring in developing countries (53 000 in Africa, 31 700 in Latin America and the Caribbean, and 159 800 in Asia) . Virtually all cases of cervical cancer are caused by HPV, the human papillomavirus, with which individuals become infected shortly after sexual initiation.
Launched in 2008, the Cervical Cancer Initiative of the UICC contributes to delivering targets 1, 4, 6, 9 of the World Cancer Declaration: ensure effective delivery systems in all countries; ensure universal coverage of the HPV/HBV vaccine; more cancers diagnosed via screening and early detection and improve training opportunities for cancer control professionals.
UICC has developed a new strategic plan for its Cervical Cancer Initiative for the 2011-2015 period. The mission of this initiative is to eliminate cervical cancer as a life threatening condition, through decisive coordination with UICC members and global and regional partners, and the mobilisation of resources in support of effective national responses. UICC envisions that cervical cancer incidence and mortality will be significantly reduced through targeted and resourced national interventions, supported by multiple partners and an increased use of cervical cancer prevention services.
The two priority areas that will be addressed include:
a) working with civil society organisations (CSOs) already involved in women- and youth-related issues to integrate cervical cancer in their agenda on education, service provision and advocacy and
b) enhancing the mobilisation of resources for cervical cancer programmes, by generating information on the actual cost of scaling up such programmes in specific countries, strengthening the advocacy arguments for this purpose.
If you need further information or want to get involved in UICC/Cervical Cancer Initiative please contact cervicalcancer@uicc.org
