Introduction
Every year, cervical cancer affects 500,000 women and takes the lives of a quarter million worldwide.
Women in developing countries bear the brunt of this disease, with 80% of the deaths from cervical cancer occurring in poor countries, due to extremely limited screening and treatment availability.This stands in stark contrast to economically advanced countries, which have been able to dramatically reduce cervical cancer rates in the last 60 years thanks to routine screening with Papanicolau (Pap) smears.
Why now? Because the world now has an extraordinary opportunity: powerful new tools that can significantly reduce the global burden of cervical cancer. These new innovations, which include HPV vaccines and new screening technologies, have dramatically increased the world's attention to cervical cancer and opened the door to global action.
Why now? Because women and girls in poor countries have the right to equal access to life-saving technologies.
Why now? Because we have an opportunity to save lives... how could we not?
