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Cervical Cancer Awareness Month

Throughout January, we observe Cervical Cancer Awareness Month (CCAM) as a time to raise awareness of the problem and magnify our support of the World Health Organization (WHO) global strategy to eliminate cervical cancer as a public health problem.

The Problem
Cervical cancer is preventable, yet in 2020, an estimated 604 000 women were diagnosed with cervical cancer worldwide and about 342 000 women died from the disease.

The Solution
The World Health Organization’s global strategy to eliminate cervical cancer as a public health problem includes a roadmap that all countries must reach and maintain an incidence rate of fewer than 4 new cases of cervical cancer per 100 000 women per year. Achieving that goal rests on three key pillars and their corresponding targets:

  • Vaccination: 90% of girls fully vaccinated with the HPV vaccine by the age of 15 years (its recommended that boys be vaccinated as well)
  • Screening: 70% of women screened using a high-performance test by the age of 35 years, and again by the age of 45 years
  • Treatment: 90% of women with precancer treated and 90% of women with invasive cancer managed

Social Media

Download and share these cervical cancer facts as far and wide as you can. Click each image to open, then save to your device or download them all from Google Drive here. 

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A Patient's Perspective

In this special presentation, cervical cancer survivor Hallie Saunders discusses her diagnoses with Dr. Wendel Naumann, the gynecologic oncologist who managed her treatment. Dr. Naumann is the co-chair of the IGCS Education360 Advances and Updates Work group on our Education Committee and the Associate Medical Director of Clinical Trials at the Levine Cancer Institute, Atrium Health in North Carolina, USA.

Hallie agreed to share her story and wants women to know how important it is to pay attention to your health and to get vaccinated against HPV.

This presentation is sponsored by Seagen.

Innovative Technologies for Cervical Cancer Prevention and Treatment
Kathleen Schmeler, MD

Dr. Schmeler discusses best practices for cervical cancer screening and treatment, including options for and solutions in middle- and low-resource settings.

ConCerv: A prospective trial of conservative surgery for low-risk, early-stage cervical cancer
Kathleen Schmeler, MD

Dr. Schmeler presents the findings of the ConCerv Clinical Trial, a study conducted from 2010-2019 to prospectively evaluate the feasibility of conservative surgery in women with early-stage, low-risk cervical cancer.

A Global Community Working Together

We can all play a part in spreading education and awareness in service of these goals and every bit of knowledge spread can make a difference. Not only do communities and the public benefit from awareness and the destigmatization of HPV and cervix cancer, but those who influence policy and those working within health care systems must be equipped with this knowledge and resources as well.

To help with the latter, IGCS and IGCAN formed an informal, semi-private online community that we welcome you all to join via What’s App. This community is for clinicians, researchers, and patient advocates and in it we’ll be sharing news and updates about the initiative. We encourage all community members to share information and insights that may help others — or use the community to ask questions.

Newly elected IGCS Council Member, Dr. Heleen van Beekhuizen of the Netherlands will help moderate this community and spearhead the sharing of information. Please Join the IGCS End Cervical Cancer What’s App Community here.