What went right this week: ‘a future free of cervical cancer’, plus more

More than 86 million girls in the most at-risk nations have received a vaccine against human papillomavirus (HPV) – the leading cause of cervical cancer – since 2023. 

That’s according to data published to coincide with the first World Cervical Cancer Elimination Day on Monday. Marking the commemorative date, the World Health Organization (WHO) said there was “powerful momentum” globally to end the preventable disease, which kills around 350,000 women globally each year.  

Data from Gavi, the vaccine alliance, revealed that 86 million girls had been vaccinated against HPV since 2023, protecting an estimated 1.4 million women from dying of cervical cancer in future. The WHO name-checked more than a dozen nations that launched HPV vaccination programmes this year, including Cuba, Pakistan and Rwanda.

“More and more countries are scaling up HPV vaccination, improving screening, and expanding treatment, bringing us closer to a future free of cervical cancer,” said Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the WHO.

Research shows the HPV vaccine to be highly effective. In 2024, a study revealed that no cases of cervical cancer had been detected in young women in Scotland who received it. 

Image: Rohit Dey