World Health Organisation urged countries in the South-East Asia Region to accelerate efforts to eliminate cervical cancer by 2030 on September 6.
“Countries need to expand vaccination, screening, detection and treatment services for everyone, everywhere to address the growing problem of cervical cancer,” said Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional Director WHO South-East Asia, at the Seventy Second Session of WHO Regional Committee here in Delhi.
Cervical cancer is a significant public health problem in the Region. In 2018, an estimated 158,000 new cases and 95,766 deaths were reported due to cervical cancer, which is the third most common type of cancer.
Addressing cancer risk factors and reducing its prevalence has been a regional flagship priority since 2014. All countries in the region are taking measures for screening and treatment of pre-cancers. Four countries in the region - Bhutan, Maldives, Sri Lanka and Thailand - have introduced HPV vaccine nationally. “We need to scale up both our capacities and quality for screening, treatment services and palliative care,” the Regional Director said.
