Achieving elimination of cervical cancer globally

Key Messages

Raising public awareness, improving health literacy, and expanding access to information and services are essential for preventing and controlling cervical cancer across the life course.
A single-dose HPV (human papillomavirus) vaccine is a game changer - safe, effective, and recommended for country programs, including for people living with HIV.
The global strategy recommends at least two lifetime screenings with a high-performance HPV test, by ages 35 and 45.
Self-collection for HPV testing, where feasible, is as reliable as provider-collected samples and may be preferred by women.
When screening is positive, timely treatment of cervical disease is quick, effective, and minimally invasive but strong referral systems are critical to ensure women are not lost to care.
Cervical cancer is highly curable if detected early, making symptom awareness and timely care-seeking essential.
Clear management pathways are needed to ensure patients with invasive cancer are promptly referred and supported through diagnosis, treatment, and palliative care; as screening expands in low- and middle-income countries, strengthening referral and cancer care systems is increasingly important.

The Facts

The tools are available to ensure cervical cancer is the first cancer to be eliminated globally.
Cervical cancer is currently the fourth most common cancer and cause of death among women worldwide, with 670 000 cases diagnosed in 2024 and 350 000 deaths in 2024 globally¹.
Few diseases reflect global inequities as much as cancer of the cervix. More than 90% of deaths in occur in low- and middle-income countries, where the burden of cervical cancer is greatest.
We know the cause is persistent infection with the HPV and cervical cancer is both preventable and curable, if identified at an early stage.
Women living with HIV are 6-10 times more likely to develop cervical cancer compared to women without HIV and should therefore be a key population of programs.
November 17^th is World Cervical Cancer Elimination Day, the first official world health day dedicated to eliminating a cancer.

Meeting the Challenge

The World Health Organization Global strategy to accelerate elimination of cervical cancer as a global health problem shares a vision of a cervical cancer free world and proposes that:

By 2030, countries should be on track to meet the 90–70–90 targets:

90.00%

of girls fully vaccinated against HPV by age 15

70.00%

of women screened with a high-performance test by ages 35 and 45

90.00%

of women with cervical disease treated (including both precancer and invasive cancer)

The ultimate goal is to reduce incidence to 4 cases per 100,000 women or less.
Achieving and sustaining these targets, especially in low- and lower-middle-income countries, could lead to major long-term gains, including sharp declines in cervical cancer cases and deaths, preventing tens of millions globally over time.
Scaling up screening (to 70%) and treatment of precancerous early disease (to 90%+) can have immediate impact by reducing disease burden, improving health literacy, and building trust in communities while reducing stigma.
Achieving and maintaining high HPV vaccination coverage (90% of girls) will further reduce cervical disease as vaccinated cohorts reach screening age.
Involving people with lived experience in program design and implementation helps ensure strategies are inclusive, locally relevant, and responsive to the needs of vulnerable populations.
Developing national cervical cancer elimination strategies is key to aligning vaccination, screening, and treatment efforts and ensuring coordinated implementation.

Essential reading

Key peer-reviewed literature shaping the implementation per pillar and from an elimination lens.

Cut-off date for inclusion was 31st October 2025.

If you would like to propose a paper to be included in this summary, please submit to our review committee which aims to update this resource in Q4 each year.

Suggest some additional resources to be added to the "Essential reading" list

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Checklist for critical appraisal on available resources

Adapting existing resources, approaches, and frameworks to local contexts is a key skill in advancing cervical cancer elimination programmes. This document supports systematic evaluation of the validity, quality, and applicability of resources and tools used to inform policy development, planning, and implementation.

Resource assessment framework for cervical cancer highlights section

Featured resources

The Elimination Planning Tool

The Cervical Cancer Elimination Planning Tool (EPT) aims to enable countries to create effective, sustainable cervical cancer strategies that are specifically adapted to their unique demographic and health-care needs. By assisting policymakers in planning, costing, and tailoring their cervical cancer programmes across the three pillars of the WHO global strategy – HPV vaccination, cervical screening, and treatment – the EPT aims to support countries to plan their roadmap towards elimination.

Access the Elimination Planning Tool here