While all World Health Organization (WHO) member states endorsed the global strategy towards the elimination of Cervical Cancer by 2030, the current state shows it could kill one woman every three minutes by that year within the Commonwealth, if adequate steps are not taken to radically reduce the rising incidence of cervical cancer.

The estimate is backed by data on the number of new cases of cervical cancer which is expected to rise by 55 per cent (to 324,598) and deaths by 62 per cent (to 186,066 deaths) by 2030.

This was revealed during a June 21 Commonwealth Women’s Forum session held under the theme: Conquering Cervical Cancer in the Commonwealth: Realities, Challenges and opportunities, where leading experts called on governments to accelerate cervical cancer elimination efforts across the Commonwealth.

Despite having only 30 percent of the world’s population, Commonwealth members account for 40 percent of global cervical cancer incidence and 43 percent of cervical cancer mortality.

Besides being the most preventable and curable, cervical cancer elimination is also arguably possible, and some of the key tools to achieving it include the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine.

The HPV, which is a sexually transmitted infection (STI), is behind almost all cervical cancer cases, and there is growing evidence of it being a relevant factor in other anogenital cancers, according to HPV information Centre.

Nevertheless, as of 2020, only 13 per cent of girls aged 9 to 14 years were vaccinated against HPV globally.

For Rwanda, more than 1,156,863 girls received their first dose of HPV vaccine in 2011 to 2018, which corresponded to 98 percent of the eligible target.

Population-level HPV vaccination coverage then increased from 6 percent for girls born in 1993, up to a maximum of 99 percent for those born in 2002, according to a 2020 study published in the journal Vaccine by researchers from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), partners from the Ministry of Health of Rwanda, and Université Claude Bernard (Lyon, France).

The positive results were achieved through a successful initial catch-up campaign that targeted school grades and included older girls, which later transitioned to an age-based approach, with routine vaccination of only girls aged 12 years, from 2015 onwards.

Nevertheless, consistency in the vaccination programme together with other measures, will be required to eliminate cervical cancer by 2030, according to WHO’s 70-90 targets related to screening and treatment of cervical pre-cancer.

The targets are to fully vaccinate 90 percent of girls against HPV by 15 years of age, to screen 70 percent of women using a high-performance test by age 35 and again by age 45, and for 90 percent of those identified with cervical disease to receive appropriate treatment.

Recommendations given in the Women’s Forum to achieve these targets include to address the inequity of access to cervical cancer elimination tools, including ensuring equitable access to HPV vaccines and cervical cancer screening provisions, and to increase investment in national cervical cancer control plans, in alignment with the WHO Global Strategy for the Elimination of Cervical Cancer and the UN’s 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.

More than 500 delegates attended the Commonwealth Women’s Forum in Kigali to discuss solutions to address pressing challenges affecting women and girls across the Commonwealth.

The Forum, which happened in Africa for the very first time, had a theme: Delivering a Common Future: Transforming Gender Equality.