Clarity needed for plan to eliminate cervical cancer

A group of experts has called for answers to ‘critical questions’ on how the Government’s plans to eliminate cervical cancer by 2040 will be delivered.

The experts, a multidisciplinary coalition of healthcare professionals, researchers and advocates – the UK Consensus Group of the Advancing Cervical CancEr ScreeningS (ACCESS) – has published a number of policy recommendations that aim to reverse the decline in cervical screening uptake, and ensure that efforts are made to reach under-served populations.

Cervical cancer remains a significant public health issue despite being both preventable and treatable if caught early. In the UK, over 3,000 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer every year—about nine new cases every day—and around 850 women die from it annually. Cervical screening participation, which saves thousands of lives each year in the UK, has declined in recent years. If all eligible women were screened, it would save at least an additional 350 lives each year in England alone. Evidence also shows the burden of cervical cancer falls disproportionately on marginalised and under-served communities: incidence rates of cervical cancer in the UK are 65% higher in the most deprived sectors of the population, and approximately 520 cervical cancer cases each year are linked to deprivation.

Athena Lamnisos, Chief Executive, The Eve Appeal, UK, and ACCESS Co-Chair, said:‘We have a landmark opportunity to eliminate cervical cancer in the UK. While HPV vaccination is starting to play an important role in preventing cervical cancer among young women, for all those who have not been vaccinated, screening remains the only evidence-based intervention to prevent the disease. If we do not reverse the decline in screening participation and increase uptake among under-screened groups, we will not achieve elimination of cervical cancer by 2040.’

The group is calling for:

• Data to be made available to healthcare providers to enable them to identify their under-screened populations
• Interventions targeted to under-served populations, including digital campaigns, education and community outreach, to be prioritised
• HPV self-sampling to be targeted at under-screened women who would not otherwise be screened at all. Cervical screening by a healthcare professional should remain the preferred option for the majority of women.

To learn more, visit https://accesscg.org/