WHO recommends a life-course approach to prevention and control of cervical cancer with age appropriate, cost-effective interventions that target the disease along the life course. These range from interventions that prevent infection with cancer causing HPV strains, to screening for precancer and early cancer to diagnosis, prompt treatment of cancer and palliative care.

Cervical cancer, which is caused by certain strains of the human papillomavirus (HPV), presents a significant public health threat to women on the African continent – all but one of the top 20 countries worldwide with the highest burden of cervical cancer in 2018 were in Africa.

Cervical cancer progresses slowly from the precancer stage to invasive cancer and it is entirely curable if diagnosed and treated early. The tragedy is that while this type of cancer is one of the most preventable, poor access to prevention, screening and treatment contributes to 90% of deaths.