Call for rapid worldwide access to new cervical cancer vaccines

A 2006 year-end landmark conference of civil society leaders and global policymakers called for immediate action to ensure rapid global access to new cervical cancer vaccines that have the potential to save a quarter million lives a year. This is the second most common cancer among women, and 80% of deaths from the disease occur in the developing world, where access to screening and treatment is extremely limited. Newly-proven vaccines protect women against human papillomavirus, which causes virtually all cases of cervical cancer.

"There is usually a 15 to 20 year delay between the time that new vaccines are approved in the west and the time they reach developing countries," said Nothemba Simelela, director of technical knowledge and support at the International Planned Parenthood Federation, speaking at the meeting, in London, UK. "The world cannot afford to wait 20 years to begin saving women from cervical cancer," he added.

Health experts believe that HPV is among the fastest-growing sexually transmitted infections worldwide and around 500,000 new cases of cervical cancer are reported annually. In industrialized countries, expanded screening and treatment have dramatically reduced cervical cancer rates over the last 60 years. In developing countries, where over 95% of women never have a pap smear, the death rate from cervical cancer continues to rise.