UICC's actions on cervical cancer

UICC works closely with the World Health Organization (WHO), other UN agencies and partners towards the elimination of cervical cancer as a public health problem.

SUCCESS Project in Guatemala 90-70-90

UICC supported WHO’s efforts for more than two years to conceive, draft and present the Global Strategy to accelerate the elimination of cervical cancer as a public health problem,  which was launched on 17 November 2020.

Today, UICC is part of the WHO-led Cervical Cancer Elimination Initiative to assist countries in achieving the "90:70:90" targets for vaccination, screening and treatment by 2030:

  • 90% of girls fully vaccinated with the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine by the age of 15
  • 70% of women screened using a high-performance test by the age of 35, and again by the age of 45;
  • 90% of women with pre-cancer treated and 90% of women with invasive cancer managed.

UICC is also rallying its members and partners in calling for urgent national commitments to help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. 

UICC offers training to health professionals and regularly raises awareness about cervical cancer on its website, during events and via its social media channels. It assists members around the world in reaching out to national and local audiences and provides regular information about the elimination strategy and its implementation. 

How does UICC help to mobilise national support for the Global Strategy?

SUCCESS project

As a member of the SUCCESS project, funded by Unitaid, and led by Expertise France, UICC is working together with Jhpiego to intensify cervical cancer prevention in Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Guatemala and the Philippines.

The objective of the SUCCESS project (Scale-up Cervical Cancer Elimination with Secondary prevention Strategy) is to prevent the development of cancer in women who test positive for the human papillomavirus (HPV) and who have precancerous lesions. 

SUCCESS also engages other countries to share lessons learned at a regional level.

As part of the SUCCESS project, UICC commissioned Thinkwell to conduct an assessment of the status of health financing for cervical cancer elimination in each of the four project countries

The profiles provide concrete insights for civil society organisations and key in-country stakeholders to inform evidence-based policy dialogues and to empower them to advocate for the integration of cervical cancer interventions into national health financing frameworks, and within the context of UHC. 

These insights can be applied to other countries and contexts, across regions, and bring an understanding of the global challenge at hand. They build upon the global report published in 2021 led by the Economist Intelligence Unit. 

High-level partnerships in cervical cancer

  • In addition to the SUCCESS project, UICC is also working closely with other partners, for example, with the French National Cancer Institute (INCa), which began in 2018. The partnership is focused upon opportunities to address the burden of women's cancers in Francophone Africa.
  • UICC also helped to establish the Commonwealth taskforce in May 2021. The taskforce aims to encourage and facilitate cooperation between Commonwealth countries, and support progress towards the 90:70:90 goals outlined in the Global Strategy.
Two black women hugging each other

Cervical cancer, caused primarily by high-risk infection of the human papillomavirus (HPV) is the fourth most prevalent cancer in women worldwide and claims a life every two minutes.

This page regroups important resources on cervical cancer elimination such as infographics, videos, documents and links.

Last update

Thursday 24 August 2023

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