Regional cervical cancer elimination strategy for the Eastern Mediterranean

Despite being a preventable and curable disease, cervical cancer is responsible for a large burden of suffering in women around the world, especially in low- and middle-income countries. To uphold the right to health for adolescent girls and women, it is important that disparities in access to high-quality health services are addressed.

In 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) set a goal to eliminate cervical cancer as a public health problem globally by 2120. To reach this goal, WHO’s Member States should strive to meet the following interim scale-up targets by 2030:

90% of girls are fully vaccinated with human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine by 15 years of age;

70% of women are screened using a high-performance test by 35 years of age and again by 45 years of age;

90% of women with pre-cancer are treated, and 90% of women with invasive cancer are managed.

To build on the momentum of the Global strategy to accelerate the elimination of cervical cancer as a public health problem, a regional cervical cancer elimination strategy has been developed for the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region that is adapted to the religious, cultural, social, economic and geographical contexts in the Region.