The nurse is teaching about cervical cancer prevention during a womens health conference

Overview

00:00:43

CD          Hello, everyone, and welcome to this World Health Organization virtual press conference on November 17, 2021.             My name is Carla Drysdale and I’m a Communications Officer at WHO, headquartered in Geneva. Today’s press conference and special event will commemorate a landmark Day of Action for cervical cancer elimination and welcome groundbreaking new initiatives to end this devastating disease.

At the end of the first hour we will have a media Q&A and will invite media to stay, if they wish to, for the second hour, which will showcase activities around the globe on elimination efforts for cervical cancer. Among the speakers joining Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO’s Director-General, are four first ladies from Rwanda, South Africa, Botswana and Burkina Faso, the Ambassador of Australia, Her Excellency Sally Mansfield, Dr Princess Nothemba Nono Simelela, Assistant Director-General, Special Advisor to the Director-General, Strategic Priorities.

Speakers also include several cervical cancer advocates, including Zambian media personality and cervical cancer survivor, Karen Nakawala. You will also hear from the family of Henrietta Lacks. You will hear inspiring singing from the Sea of Change Cancer Survivors Choir in Ireland. Our speakers also include representatives from WHO partners, including Unitaid, FIND, the French government’s L'Initiative facility, as well as from the University of Miami collaborating centre.

We are thrilled to have Grammy Award winner, singer-songwriter and the UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, Angélique Kidjo. An exciting and packed line-up today. Just to note that today’s presser will focus on cervical cancer elimination efforts, so if journalists have specific COVID-19-related questions, please join our regular COVID-19 presser which will take place next week. An updated media advisory will be sent with the date and connection details for that. You can also write to us at [email protected] With that introduction, I will now hand over to Dr Tedros. Dr Tedros, you have the floor.

00:03:16

TAG        Thank you. Thank you, Carla. Your Excellency Jeannette Kagame, First Lady of the Republic of Rwanda, Your Excellency Dr Tshepo Ramaphosa, First Lady of the Republic of South Africa, Your Excellency, Ambassador Sally Mansfield, Ms Karen Nakawala, dear partners, colleagues and friends. Good morning, good afternoon and good evening and thank you all for joining us for this special occasion.

Last month, I had the honour of meeting the family of Henrietta Lacks. For those who don’t know her story, Henrietta Lacks was a Black woman who attended a hospital in Baltimore in 1951 complaining of vaginal bleeding, a common symptom of cervical cancer.

Without her knowledge or consent, doctors took a biopsy of the tumour and sent it off for analysis. Those cells turned out to have a unique ability to survive and reproduce and became the basis for research that has saved millions of lives, including vaccines against human papillomavirus or HPV, that pathogen responsible for 99% of cervical cancers.

Nobel Prize have been won, fortunes made and millions of lives saved from Henrietta Lacks cells but the injustice that was perpetrated on her persists for millions of other disadvantaged women around the world who lack access to the tools that were developed from her cells.

Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer among women globally but it is also almost completely preventable and if diagnosed early enough, is one of the most successfully treatable cancers.

00:05:18

This disease claims the lives of 300,000 women each year, one every two minutes. Like COVID-19, we have the tools to prevent, detect and treat this disease but like COVID-19 cervical cancer is driven by inequitable access to those tools. 79 countries that account for two thirds of the global burden of cervical cancer are yet to introduce HPV vaccines because of high and inadequate supply. In low and middle income countries, the incidence of cervical cancer is nearly twice is high and the death rate is three times as high as in high income countries.

We see similar disparities among marginalised populations within many high-income countries. That’s why one year ago today, WHO launched a global strategy to eliminate cervical cancer with three

That’s why one year ago today, WHO launched a Global Strategy to Eliminate Cervical Cancer, with three targets to achieve within the next 10 year, to vaccinate 90% of all girls against human papillomavirus by the age of 15, to expand access to screening services for 70% of women, and to expand access to treatment for 90% of women with pre-cancerous lesions, and palliative care for 90% of women with invasive cancer.

Like it has with so many diseases, the pandemic has caused setbacks to progress towards these targets because of disruption to health services. The proportion of girls globally with access to HPV vaccines has fallen to 13%, from 15% before the pandemic. At the same time, there are encouraging signs of progress.

00:07:24

In the past year, several more countries have introduced the HPV vaccine into national immunization schedules, including Cameroon, Cabo Verde, El Salvador, Mauritania, Qatar, Sao Tome and Principe, and Tuvalu. WHO has also prequalified a fourth HPV vaccine called Cecolin, produced by Innovax, which we expect will increase supply and decrease prices.

We have also seen innovations like self-sampling, which offers women the option of being screened for cervical cancer without a pelvic exam. Today, we are releasing WHO’s evidence generation framework for artificial intelligence-based screening. But, we need to do much more. Today, we are calling on all countries, all manufacturers of vaccines, tests and treatments, all partners and all civil society organisations to join us in our effort to make cervical cancer history.

Henrietta Lacks didn’t live to see the benefit that her cells have been to so many women around the world. Cervical cancer took her life just a few months after she was diagnosed. We owe it to her and to all women who have died with cervical cancer or are living with it today to make these life-saving tools available and affordable everywhere.

Today, we are honoured to be joined by four first ladies from Africa, who have seen first-hand the impact that cervical cancer has on women in their countries. First, it’s my great honour to welcome Her Excellency Jeannette Kagame, the First Lady of the Republic of Rwanda. Madam Kagame, thank you so much for joining us and you have the floor. Murakoze chane, and you have the floor.

00:09:45

JK          Thank you, Dr Tedros. Excellency Sika Kaboré, Première Dame de la  République du Burkina Faso, Excellency Tshepo Ramaphosa, First Lady of the Republic of South Africa, Excellency Neo Masisi, First Lady of the Republic of Botswana and, of course, Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus, Director General of the World Health Organization, excellencies, ambassadors, dear engaged partners, dedicated activists, allies and friends, ladies and gentlemen, good morning, good afternoon, good evening. Thank you, Dr Tedros, that we have people following us from different time zones.

I am honoured to be here today, one year into our commitment to implement a Global Strategy to accelerate the elimination of cervical cancer as a public health problem. Fighting a crisis amidst another crisis is no easy feat. I commend the WHO for not pushing women, particularly those from the developing world, to the side, as it weathers the storm of the coronavirus pandemic.

By placing concern for people of both genders, and of all races and ages, at the heart of medicine, the WHO has made commendable headway in devising a permanent solution, to the cervical cancer emergency. Distinguished guests, we all know that early detection is by far the most effective method of waning the fatality of cervical cancer. Mass screenings are essential to our mission, therefore they should be considered an extension, of the human right to the highest attainable standard of health, conducive to living a life in dignity.

00:11:50

Since the introduction of cervical cancer screenings in Rwanda in 2015, over 170,000 women have been examined. I am confident that by this time next year, new partnerships will have helped to raise this number further and will speak to the force of our momentum.

Valued partners, devoted activists, allies and friends, as the conversation between nations shifts, to include vaccine manufacturing and benevolent research, I hope that this spike in international health consciousness, multiplies global resolutions, to make cervical cancer prevention, accessible to all.

Rwanda has already surpassed the target set by the WHO cervical cancer elimination strategy of having 90% of girls under 15 fully vaccinated for HPV. In fact, since 2011 our immunisation of young girls aged 12 has consistently stood above 90%. However, research has emerged in favour of also inoculating young boys against the virus in order to reduce transmission rates.

Therefore, our developing nations need to be equipped to double our efforts in the unrolling of vaccines. I join Dr Tedros in inviting industries, the private sector, researchers and development partners, to work with our governments, to reduce the price of HPV vaccines, HPV DNA tests and the adoption of innovative technologies, such as the WHO’s AI visual examination tools.

00:13:47

I hope for an African continent where these vaccines are produced locally, with the support of our every ally who I believe shares our vision of health autonomy for all nations. To our women stakeholders, caring for your health, must not be a periodic trend. The testimonies of survivors must be consistently amplified. We owe them the promise, that their suffering is not the fate that we are allowing for the next generation of women.

We owe the family of Henrietta Lacks the faith that the research that we are indebted to her for will lead us to a world with zero cervical cancer fatality. Ladies and gentlemen, a goal of such scale, requires ambition from both genders. We know that this goal cannot be attained with the burden fully resting on women. I again call on our male counterparts to proactively join this fight. This is true allyship in action, sharing our burden to alleviate the load of women, as they strive for change that will benefit our entire societies. I thank you and to more years of commitment and partnership.

TAG        Thank you. Thank you, Your Excellency. Thank you for your leadership. It’s now my honour to introduce Dr Tshepo Ramaphosa, First Lady of the Republic of South Africa. Dr Ramaphosa, thank you for joining us and you have the floor.

TR          Thank you, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization, Dr Nono Simelela, Assistant Director-General of the World Health Organization, Her Excellency Mrs Jeanette Kagame, Her Excellency, Mrs Neo Masisi, Her Excellency, Mrs Adjoavi Sika Kaboré, Ambassador Sally Mansfield, Ms Karen Nakawala, survivors and advocates across the globe, honored guests, ladies and gentlemen. Good day.

00:16:21

It is hard to believe that one year has passed since the World Health Organization’s Strategy for Cervical Cancer Elimination was launched. We applaud the ambitious goal that the strategy sets for lowering the incident rate for vaccinating girls with the human papillomavirus for screening women using the high performance test and ensuring that women with pre-cancer are treated and those with invasive cancer are managed.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on the programme for many institutions, civil society or groups, governments, non-governmental organisations. The pandemic has taken a huge toll on human lives and human health and society. Among other things, we have seen high rates of unintended pregnancies among girls as young as nine and ten years old.

We have seen high rates of gender-based violence. In cities across the world, we have seen women and their children begging for food at street corners. We have also observed the effects of the pandemic on mental health and people’s sense of security and wellbeing.

The disturbing truth is that the poorest and particularly women and girls have been the hardest hit. This has implications for our struggle to eliminate cervical cancer. In the same way that access to life-saving vaccines, diagnostics and treatment for cervical cancer has been severely limited, an unequal access to life-saving COVID-19 vaccines is inexplicable and inexcusable.

Unless we more urgently address the inequality in access to life-saving commodities, we will stifle the prospects of the children of Africa and many parts in the developing world and regions across the world. If our efforts fail, we must accept that generational poverty will become entrenched and development will be cut for many years and for generations to come.

00:19:09

In such circumstances, the achievement of targets of the global strategies for the elimination of cervical cancer will forever remain a challenge. On the first anniversary of the global strategy we much acknowledge that much good work has been done in every corner of our country and the continent and for that I comment the World Health Organization and its partners.

What we need is a greater sense of urgency, greater equality and strengthened partnership between countries on the global South and also between the global South and global North. We need to recognise the critical role of the advocates and survivors who continue to be the beacons of hope.

We will continue to advocate for the provision of comprehensive health services, education and social support for young girls and boys and women across the globe. I wish you well in the weeks ahead and months ahead as we work for a world free from cervical cancer. Thank you for your attention.

TAG        Thank you, Your Excellency. It’s now my honour to welcome Her Excellency Sika Kaboré, the First Lady of the Republic of Burkina Faso, who sent us this video message.

00:20:42

NM         Director-General, Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus, your excellencies, first ladies from South Africa and Burkina-Faso, distinguished ladies and gentlemen. Good day to you all. It is an honour and privilege to participate at this commemoration of the Global Strategy Towards Cervical Cancer Elimination, a significant moment when Botswana joins the global community to celebrate concerted efforts to eliminate cervical cancer.

As we commemorate this day, we should not lose sight of the burden this disease and other NCDs continue to place on the world population, Botswana included. The latest evidence shows that cervical cancer continues to be the leading cause of cancer morbidity at 27% and mortality at 12% in Botswana. This is of particular concern for women who are HIV positive, as cervical cancer is both common and aggressive in the population.

For the past decade Botswana has been engaged at global and regional levels to harness guidance in the establishment of platforms for the effective and efficient screening, diagnosis and treatment facilities for cervical cancer. All these interventions, they get to us preparing for elimination of cervical cancer in the future, moving from epidemic control to total cervical cancer elimination.

The Global Strategy for Elimination focuses on three main areas, which are HPV vaccination, HPV testing and successful treatment of those women with precancerous lesions and effective linkage in treatment of women with cervical cancer.

Botswana has made tremendous progress in an effort to eliminate cervical cancer through targeted vaccination campaigns. The HPV vaccine coverage has been above 90% until 2019 when the country started experiencing supply challenges.

00:22:29

Scale up to more visual inspection with acetic acid VIA sites is ongoing with all the 18 regions covering at least two or three VIA and new clinics. I am delighted to share the progress towards the adoption and implementation of the initiatives entailed in the global strategy for cervical elimination are well underway in Botswana. Efforts to collaborate with the Sir Ketumile Masire Teaching Hospital, which is aimed at research to establish better classification options for management of women with screen-positive results for HPV tests, are ongoing.

Synergies have been established with the civil society organisations who are key providers of HIV care to incorporate cervical cancer screening and treatment. We have the tools and the knowledge to eliminate cervical cancer. What we do with that is up to us. We can make choices that condemn women to a painful, avoidable death or we can prioritise their health so that a future generation of women and their families look back with pride at the choices we made today.

As I conclude, ladies and gentlemen, I wish to thank WHO for the model leadership, technical guidance and support as countries commit to women’s health, in particular elimination of cervical cancer. I thank you all.

00:23:50

TAG        Thank you. Thank you so much. Our apologies. That was the video message recorded by Her Excellency Neo Jane Masisi, the First Lady of Botswana and thank you Your Excellency. Now, we will see the video sent by Her Excellency, Sika Kaboré, the First Lady of the Republic of Burkina Faso

SK          Director-General, ladies and gentlemen. I’d like to thank you for inviting me to participate today as we’re marking the one year of the cervical cancer elimination effort. This is, indeed, a global health problem and we’re working to eliminate this. Cervical cancer is one of the easiest cancers to prevent and to treat but due to ignorance and a lack of accessibility to healthcare systems, many people remain victims of this cancer, especially in the poorest countries.

This situation leads to great disparities between the North and the South and brings into question the issue of healthcare inequalities. 194 countries have collectively joined up to put a stop to this cervical cancer and Burkina Faso is well-involved in these efforts. Thanks to our political efforts and with the support of our partners we have conducted many projects in our country.

I’d like to point out a few of those now. We have rolled out free screening and free treatment of pre-cancerous cells since 2016. This is within universal healthcare coverage for women and for girls. We’ve also led an awareness-raising campaign about the vaccine, the HPV vaccine for nine to 13-year-olds. We did this in 2014 and in 2015.

Moreover, we have conducted two prevention campaigns against cervical cancer and finally we have implemented now for a few years the first centre, the radiotherapy centre for cervical cancer. Very soon the HPV vaccine will be integrated in our overall vaccine programme in the country. The world of associations is very involved as is our community.

00:26:50

Director-General, ladies and gentlemen, winning against this cancer requires effort from all technical support actors, from all researchers, from civil society, from everybody, from healthcare workers, from government above and beyond. Fighting this cancer requires us to strengthen and bolster national efforts. It requires us to roll out more to prevent cancer, to raise awareness among our population and to screen.

Of course, we must remember good governance and strong financing strategies. This can be done with innovative partnerships. The current management of COVID-19 is a great example of solidarity and strong partnerships.

Within just a few months, many mechanisms have been implemented to facilitate access to protection, to diagnostic tools and to treating COVID, as well as preventing it with the vaccine. There are other examples too, such as the Ouagadougou initiative. This is an inspiring initiative which ought to be shared.

I am absolutely convinced that with the commitment of all and judicial use of the tools available to us, in 2030 we will be able to celebrate the success of the elimination of cervical cancer. This will no longer be a public health issue at that point. Thank you very much.

00:29:00

TAG        Merci beaucoup, Your Excellency and thank you for each of our first ladies for your support, commitment and leadership. The first HPV vaccine was developed by an Australian scientist, Dr Ian Frazer, and Australia remains one of the leading countries in the global fight to eliminate cervical cancer.

We’re delighted to be joined today by Her Excellency Sally Mansfield, Australia’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative here in Geneva and we welcome the video message that has been recorded by the Honourable Greg Hunt, Australia’s Minister for Health and Aged Care.

GH         I welcome the opportunity to address the World Health Organization, member states and key international partners on such an important topic, the elimination of cervical cancer. Today is an auspicious day, commemorating a year since the launch of the WHO’s global commitment to eliminate cervical cancer as a public health problem.

I thank the WHO for its focus on this vitally important work and the role they’ve played in progressing it globally. Australia has embraced the commitment, having championed and led the resolution on the global strategy to accelerate the elimination of cervical cancer with the support of many other member states.

What an achievement it will be to close the door on a cancer that has cut short the lives of far too many women around the world. How can we get there? Because we can. The tools to eliminate cervical cancer, vaccination, screening and treatment of pre-cancer, early detection and prompt treatment already exist. The next critical step is to scale up the implementation through domestic initiatives consistent with the global strategy.

00:31:06

We need to continue to drive greater global efforts so that by 2030 all countries can achieve 90% HPV vaccination coverage, 70% screening coverage and 90% access to treatment for cervical cancer, pre-cancer and cancer and including to palliative care.

Australia will continue to work with the WHO to promote the immunisation screening and treatment programmes that have proven so effective at preventing and detecting cervical cancer. We especially look forward to working with our regional neighbours in the WHO Western Pacific region to develop a framework for the comprehensive prevention and control of cervical cancer.

In relation to Australia, I’m deeply proud to announce that Australia is on track to eliminate cervical cancer by 2035. Our national cervical screening programme continues to be central to preventing cervical cancer through early detection. Now 30 years old, the screening programme has halved the number of cases and mortality rate in Australia.

The programme screens with a simple test now done every five years with checks for HPV, the common infection that causes almost all cervical cancers, and complementing the screening is our HPV vaccination programme, a vaccine developed in Australia that helps protect young people from getting a range of HPV-related cancers and diseases.

00:32:45

Our government has just announced funding that will make self-collection of the sample for the cervical cancer test universally available from July 2022. This is a gamechanger that gives women control of taking the sample and makes the test more comfortable and less invasive.

We’ve also just invested in the development of a National Cervical Cancer Elimination Strategy for Australia by the end of 2022. We are also funding Australia’s largest clinical trial, the Compass Trial, which will produce world-first evidence on the interactions between HPV vaccination and HPV-base screen.

It’s important that together we maintain momentum and work to fulfil the opportunity available to the world to eliminate cervical cancer. We have both the will and the way to achieve this goal. I once again thank the WHO for its ongoing technical focus on this important work and reiterate Australia’s profound commitment to this cause.

TAG        Thank you. Thank you, Honourable Minister, and my thanks to Australia for its leadership and ambition. Finally, we can only eliminate cervical cancer with the voices and advocacy of the women who suffer from this disease. It’s therefore my great pleasure to welcome Karen Nakawala, a survivor of cervical cancer and advocate from Zambia. Karen, thank you for joining us and you have the floor.

00:34:22

KN         Thank you so very much and I can’t believe it is already a year since we launched the strategy to eliminate cervical cancer as a health problem. Please allow me to ride on the protocols that have already been observed. Now, each and every day, I’m reminded of the pain, the anguish, the uncertainty of the possibly bleak future as I went through the process from diagnosis right through to the harsh treatment of cervical cancer.

My first thought was that I was going to die. My greatest fear was leaving my daughters behind, of losing my best friend and partner. However, as I progressed through the treatment, the fears became less and less and I saw a glimmer of hope, but that brought on new unforeseen fears. I was afraid of losing my femininity. I was afraid of the stigma attached to cervical cancer. I was afraid of what my life would be like after cancer. Would anything be the same at all? Here, the same is actually a very relative term. This is the life of every cervical cancer patient.

After treatment I told myself and I promised myself that I was going to fiercely fight to save the lives of my two daughters, whom I was so afraid of leaving behind, by advocating for the HPV vaccine for the young girls and screening for the adult women. We have and continue to make strides with screening but we still need better access to surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, brachytherapy to save more lives.

00:36:03

Unfortunately, I have not been able to get my 11-year-old vaccinated and I have to wait until she is 14. Imagine the disappointment in a young girl when we were turned away after she saw first-hand her mother go through the disease the debilitating effects of the treatment and the anguish of a mother who is fighting to save the life or her little girls and prevent her from going through the same excruciating experience.

Now, this is real time and true life scenario in most low and middle-income countries where the vaccine is literally rationed and not readily available in comparison with the developed countries where our friends have a choice whether to vaccinate their children or not, despite the abundance and the availability of the vaccines in their countries.

There is need for the equitable distribution of the vaccine if we are to eliminate cervical cancer and by the way, we are all very actively engaged in the elimination of cervical cancer globally, not just in one geographical location.

We all know that 19 out the 20 countries with the highest burden of cervical cancer are in Africa, yet they are the ones with the least access to the HPV vaccine. Until and unless this trend is turned around, the global fight against cervical cancer will remain but a slogan.

COVID-19 has brought about its own very serious challenges. While the aim has been to try and keep everyone safe by limiting movement, it means that there has been very limited access to screening services and a very low uptake of the HPV vaccine.

00:37:46

In the eastern part of my country, for instance, we are battling with teenage pregnancies. Girls as young as ten years old are falling pregnant before they can even access the HPV vaccine. The odds are highly stacked against them because of their early sexual debut. By the time they are 20, most of them will have gone through multiple pregnancies and will no doubt be exposed to HIV, clearly making them quite openly susceptible to cervical cancer.

Yes, it is imperative that we save the global population from COVID-19 but we need to bear in mind that cancer does not stop. The same efforts we are seeing in trying to end COVID-19, we need to see the same efforts applied to eliminate cervical cancer because it is preventable.

When the World Health Organization launched the strategy to accelerate the elimination of cervical cancer I saw hope. I saw a light at the end of the tunnel. I saw practically a door opening wide towards saving lives. However, this light can and will remain a candle light flickering in the wind until the HPV vaccine is distributed, accessed and is readily available for all girls without prejudice between the ages of nine and 14 throughout the world.

In conclusion, for us to prevent and eliminate cervical cancer there will be need for improved and enhance cooperation and coordination amongst countries, improved health delivery system, equitable distribution of vaccines, especially here in Africa, HPV vaccine which should be accessed at any time by the target audience, improved, consistent and timely delivery of messages to target audiences, increased awareness on HPV screening and testing, address all visible and invisible barrier to treatment, actively engage cervical cancer survivors and the youth in all the programmes that we are going to design to eliminate cervical cancer as a health problem.

00:39:49

Low and middle-income countries need to be supported in providing better quality services to their patients. We need more survivors but we can do better by eliminating cervical cancer completely and we can do it. We just have to work together. Thank you.

TAG        Thank you. Thank you Karen. You’re right. Together we can. Thank you. To lead the next part of our event, it’s now my great pleasure to hand over to Assistant Director-General, Dr Nono Simelela, who leads WHO’s global strategy to eliminate cervical cancer. Nono, over to you.

NS         Thank you. Thank you, DG. Thank you for your leadership and your commitment to this very important disease that is preventable, as you’ve said that the world has the tools for. Let me thank the excellencies, the first ladies, who continue to show leadership and who are our champions in this fight, Ambassador Sally Mansfield, as well as all the other honourable colleagues who are here, who continue to be partners in the path to the elimination of cervical cancer. So, let me greet everybody who has joined us from all parts of the world.

A year on since the launch of the global strategy for the elimination of cervical cancer as a public health problem there has been important progress. The Director-General elaborated on some of the things that we have managed to do working with member states and partners to advance this commitment.

00:41:51

Despite the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, you have heard how countries have continued to introduce the HPV vaccine and how work has continued in spite of the challenges. WHO has responded to requests for support from our member states with technical assistance as well as with all the technical products that are available that will support countries in implementation.

A number of them are worthy of notice, of being prioritised and also being shared with you all. We’ve got now country profiles which have been published which will be extremely helpful to determine baselines across the continuum for countries.

We’ve got, as well, new guidance specifically for screening and treatment of cervical cancer among women living with HIV who are a particularly vulnerable group. Risk here has increased six-fold for women living with HIV. Therefore, to have a guideline that shows us that we need to screen early, to intervene early has been extremely helpful.

We’ve got now innovation, as the DG has mentioned, with artificial intelligence and easy tools to ablate and to treat women with pre-cervical lesions. We are focusing also on helping countries through our partners who are focusing on dealing with advanced cervical cancer, radiotherapy, chemotherapy and palliative care.

00:43:31

So, the continuum is intact, the tools are available, but tools are but tools. They need people, they need resources and they need very dedicated expertise at the delivery level, so we much continue to encourage our healthcare providers to integrate these tools but also to support them because there is so much that healthcare providers on the frontline need to do.

We are extremely excited that the advocates across the world continue to champion this very, very important disease and I am very, very excited that our partners, who also contribute so much through their dedication, through their commitment, are here today to tell us about how they will continue to support this work and their own political commitments, resource commitments and the things that they will really put on the table to change the narrative on cervical cancer.

Here with us today I am very, very excited and happy to introduce Philippe Duneton, who is the Executive Director of Unitaid, our partners, who have done a lot for us in terms of diagnostics and treatment. Over to you, Philippe.

PD          Thank you very much, Dr Nono. Excellencies, first ladies, Dr Tedros, Madam Ambassador, dear colleagues and friends, Unitaid is very proud to be here today and also very proud to have responded to the call for action for elimination of cervical cancer. I just want also to have a thought for a friend I lost, she was 34 and died from cervical cancer, leaving two kids, and also for all the women who are dying or suffering from cervical cancer in the world.

00:46:02

I think one key word is inequity. I think in that case it is obvious. Nine out of ten women who are dying from cervical cancer are in fact from the lower and middle-income countries. So, for us, it is absolutely important. We have invested $60 million with two grantees, CHAI and Expertise France, supporting intervention in 14 countries in three continents.

As mentioned, I think that the access to care in particular in Africa was a challenge and is still a challenge and I think it is important to say that in real life it works. In addition to the vaccine, for sure, because we need to have access to vaccine but test-and-treat is working. That’s our experience. It is organised around the training of nurses but also the availability of tools. Diagnostics is absolutely key and detecting the virus directly increases the level of quality of the screening including self-test, I will come back to that, but also treat and it can be done in one go, which is also very important.

So, we have demonstrated that it is feasible in low resource settings. We have demonstrated that we can decrease the price of the test by 40% and also 50% in the tools used for thermal ablation, for example, and it can be in a very decentralised way. Unfortunately, like the world and we all live this situation with COVID-19, it has been slower than expected, but I can say now that even if we test more than 2,000 women, we believe that by the end of 2022 we could be on track and to treat over one million women by the end of next year.

00:48:32

So, it’s encouraging. We have seen that even if it was slow at some point, it was resilient. The way the people and the healthcare workers have been trained is absolutely key. We have trained more than 6,500 professionals to do that and I think that it is absolutely key.

The other thing we have learned, even with difficulty with COVID-19, is the importance of self-test. I think it was mentioned by Dr Nono but it is very key because it is way, really, to increase access for the women in a way that self-collection is more easy to do. It is also less intrusive, in a way.

Again, our commitment is absolutely important for us. We still have the goal to have test-and-treat for around one dollar per woman. Of course, with the evolution I think they you released the guidelines for artificial intelligence as part of the grant. We hope that we can develop that because it will be a key element to achieve this goal.

To finish, I think that I will also say how we appreciate the strong partnership with WHO and partners and the leadership. Dr Tedros, your leadership but also your team that we are really closely working together. We believe it is important, we believe it is feasible and we hope that the work that we are doing with your support and in-country can also lead more countries to join the fight and implement test-and-treat to eliminate cervical cancer. Thank you.

NS         Thank you and thank you very much for your commitment, Philippe, and your team and to really help us push the agenda on diagnostics. This is very important because the artificial intelligence-driven tools will be the gamechanger for many low-income and lower-middle-income countries.

00:51:04

We have with us today another very good partner, although this is there first foray into the space of cervical cancer. I would like to invite Professor Kickbusch, from FIND. Everybody who works with us knows that this is the innovation for new diagnostics and we hand over to you to tell us more about how you will support us in this fight to eliminate cervical cancer. Thank you, Ilona. Over to you.

IK           Thank you very much, Princess, DG, excellencies, ambassador, colleagues and women around the world. It was very bold for WHO to launch this strategy at the COVID-19 pandemic raged but that is an essential reminder that other deadly disease don’t press pause when COVID-19 emerged.

Every two minutes a woman dies for cervical cancer. Those are daughters, mothers, sisters, partners, wives and friends. We’ve heard that from other speakers at this meeting today. Every single loss is preventable. Every death is too much.

You know that the WHO global strategy sets out a clear plan, the 90-70-90 targets which are ambitious but clearly are achievable. I’m here today representing FIND, the global alliance for diagnostics. Our focus is on the middle target number. 70% of women should be screened with a high-performance test by the age of 35 and again before they turn 45.

00:52:53

WHO has rightly made screening a key element of this strategy because early diagnosis means the disease can be cured, which means women’s lives can be saved. But, as we see with so many diseases, lack of access to testing is robbing women of their chance of an early diagnosis.

In low and middle-income countries, where health systems are weakest and access barriers are highest, three times as many women die of cervical cancer than in high-income countries. Many screening programmes in these countries are just pilots. Very few countries, most of them in high-income countries, have scaled up to national programmes, we heard from Australia for example, with at least 7O% coverage.

Reasons are many. They include high prices and out-of-pocket expenses for women, as well as weak infrastructure to support HPV testing, both of which hinder scale-up. Low test demand and uncertainty about HPV test uptake remains a key barrier for large scale price reduction but, as we see, even removing those barriers will not be enough to guarantee access.

Last year, we joined forces with Women in Global Health to gather the evidence on women’s access to testing and explore the potential of women as drivers of change in health systems to help close the testing gap that is holding back universal health coverage and health for all.

We found that gender norms and roles also play a major yet underestimated part in limited access to testing. For example, in many cases women rely on their husbands for money to access healthcare or are not allowed to take time off work to visit a clinic.

00:55:01

Bluntly said, a complex cocktail of technical, sociocultural and economic barriers to testing is seen time and time again across so many of the diseases prevalent in low and middle income countries. Eliminating cervical cancer, ending tuberculosis, defeating malaria and hepatitis, beating AMR, all of these require stronger testing systems that work for everyone of all genders, no matter where they are.

Our research also shows that women lack trust in testing services and many fear the procedures, diagnosis and stigmas, as we heard from survivors. The tests that women specifically need, such as those for cervical cancer, diagnosis and screening are also often not available in low and middle-income countries health systems. These barriers, of course, are compounded for women who are marginalised or are in humanitarian contexts.

To achieve the WHO targets for cervical cancer and many other diseases, which means making UHC a reality, we cannot ignore the gender issues when tackling access to testing.

Finally, how is FIND leveraging 20 years of experience in diagnostic testing to help meet the targets? A number of existing FIND donors strongly support the expansion of our work into women’s health and I personally am delighted about that and they support our efforts in helping develop gender-responsive and potentially gender-transformative national diagnostic and screening strategies. These include Canada, the European Union, the Netherlands and Norway.

00:57:00

In our latest strategy we commit to improving the health of women and children through testing. Today, we are marking another concrete step on that journey by announcing a new initiative to improve cervical cancer diagnosis and screening using innovative technologies in low and middle-income countries.

Our work will encompass point-of-care HPV tests, use of digital and mobile technology for screening and self-sampling approaches to overcome barriers and improve access to testing. Together, we can make sure that everyone who needs a test can get one, that every women can get a test. Thank you very much.

NS         Thank you. Thank you very much, Ilona, for this very important announcement which will move us closer to the goals and the targets we have set. Another partner who is going to join us today is Mr Eric Fleutelot, who is working closely with Expertise France, our partners and implementing agencies on the ground. Over to you, Eric.

EF          Thank you very much, Dr Nono. It’s a great pleasure for me to be here. I’m going to speak in French so you can switch your translation channel. Excellencies, first ladies, Director-General, Dr Nono, it’s a great honour to be here with you today on the first anniversary of the launch of the Global Strategy to Accelerate the Elimination of Cervical Cancer.

I’m also very pleased that there are so many of us here today. So many of us have decided to mobilise ourselves to eliminate this illness. As has been mentioned, we are working with Expertise France to lead two main programmes which are very successful and have been supported by Unitaid and these programmes scale up the fight against cervical cancer through a secondary prevention strategy. We also have the initiative, which is a facility with the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria at present.

00:59:32

Too many women are dying from cervical cancer. It has already been said but I will repeat that one woman dies from cervical cancer every two minutes, so it is crucial and very urgent that we act before it is too late and other women die. We must also consider the fact that women living with HIV are at a much greater risk of developing cervical cancer, therefore we much commit through these initiatives to combat these illnesses.

Our project provides innovation but also technical assistance. Every year we publish calls for projects and this receives responses, whether it is from civil society, ministries of health, research institutions. These are catalytic projects and what we would like is to authorise change in policies and practices on the ground.

We want to contribute to scaling-up healthcare systems and improving access to healthcare systems for the most vulnerable and most marginalised populations. The 2022 call for projects will be published on 1st December and we need projects, projects that better integrate the fight against cervical cancer in order to demonstrate the efficacy, the profitability of these projects.

01:01:09

But, alongside these calls for projects we have other projects. Namely, countries request technical assistance, for example, to help implement their national strategies for tackling HIV and this may be focused on the comorbidity with, for example, cervical cancer.

This is possible throughout the year and every month the initiative allows this possibility. All stakeholders in the public health care system must commit to tackling cervical cancer. We can cure cervical cancer if we manage it and treat it early. We must ensure that all young girls and women can be vaccinated in time and it is also crucial that men commit to this fight. They must join this fight and we must ensure that all partners, friends, women, sisters, wives have better access to healthcare, to screening, to treatment and to vaccinations. Thank you.

NS         Thank you. Thank you very, very much, Eric, for that. The next partner who is going to be speaking to us is a healthcare provider who is working in Little Haiti, Ms Dinah Trevil represents a landmark collaboration that we have been working with the University of Miami. The University of Miami has just recently been entered into the list of collaborating centres with WHO, specifically for focusing on the elimination of cervical cancer.

We’ve got many collaborating centres, we acknowledge that, but this specific one is important because they have committed to really take forward the work on cervical cancer and it is important, I think, so see the partnerships at work between such institutions and health providers on the ground. So, I’d like to welcome Dinah Trevil, in Little Haiti, who is on the ground working with women. Over to you, Dinah.

01:03:50

DT          Thank you, Princess. On behalf of the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami, we are honoured to be a part of the WHO collaborating centres for cervical cancer elimination. We look forward to working with WHO in this important global effort to support countries to achieve the cervical cancer elimination targets.

As a community health worker, I am excited to be a part of this movement. For all of the women that we serve in South Florida and beyond, we stand with you. Nosotros estamos contigo. Nous sommes avec vous. And, to my sisters in Haiti and across the Haitian diaspora, nou kanpe avèk ou. Thank you.

NS         Thank you. Thank you very much for that contribution. As I close this part of the day for our work, I just want to mention that we are very excited by the decision by the government of Japan to reintroduce HPV vaccination into their national programmes. We know that 12 years ago they had to suspend the programme, really on the basis of bad information on so-called adverse events.

I just want to refer to The Lancet article that confirms that these vaccines are safe, that they are efficacious and that we can use them with confidence. So, we congratulate that political will and we just want to urge many other governments to start with this important step. I just want to thank everybody again and to hand over to you, Carla, for this session.

01:05:41

CD          Thanks so much, Dr Nono, and thanks to all of our speakers for their remarks. We will now start the Q&A for media section of the briefing. If I could just ask you to please enter your name and media outlet and to ask a question. Please, only one question and if you can click Raise Hand icon. We will only be taking questions related to cervical cancer elimination today, as I mentioned before.

I’d like to just start off with a question that was actually sent to us in advance from Amy Maxmen, before this presser, from Nature. Amy asked what are the barriers to catching and treating this disease early and what are the barriers to getting girls the HPV vaccine? Did the Mexico City policy have a negative effect on cervical cancer or the HPV vaccine rollout. So, I will hand that over to you, Dr Nono.

NS         Thank you, Carla, and thank you very much for the question. The issues around access and the barriers, there are supply side issues and there are demand side challenges across the world.

The supply issues obviously deal with the fact that there is very limited access to the technologies that we need, that many low income and lower-middle-income countries are still using very old-fashioned methods of screening women with acetic acid and nurses have to really be trained very well to do this.

This method is not accurate because it really depends on the provider and their ability to see what the results are when they apply the acetic acid. So, you’ve got those challenges and you also have challenges with sufficient healthcare providers, well-trained with the necessary skills to provide this service to women.

01:08:00

Demand side issues have been referred to earlier by Karen. A stigmatised disease, a disease that really makes it difficult for women to come into the centre and ask for help. It affects a very, very private part of women’s bodies and it is something that we see makes it very, very difficult.

We also have challenges with women’s ability to leave their homes to come into the services to get care. I would argue that any policy that prevents access to a comprehensive set of services for sexual and reproductive health is really counterproductive and indirectly, by putting such a policy, we impact on women’s agency.

Part of the work that we are keen to see happen is to deal with issues pertaining to women in a comprehensive way. It is very difficult to say to a healthcare provider, deal only with this part, the HIV part. Do not talk about unintended pregnancies. Do not talk about access to termination services if the women so wish.

We really want to promote comprehensive approaches and therefore, in an indirect way, such policies really do affect the assumptions, the stance of people and they affect the ability of providers to just be comprehensive in their approach. So, we hope that with all of the changes that are positive, despite the pushback that still continues around sexual and reproductive health services, we will champion on as an institution to support member states to provide comprehensive reproductive health and sexual services across the world.

01:10:06

CD          Thanks very much, Dr Nono. I know there was a second part to that question about the Mexico City policy and did it have a negative effect on cervical cancer or HPV vaccine rollout. Would you be able to address that, as well? Thanks.

NS         I think what I was trying to elaborate is that the Mexico gag rule was a step back because it is a small part of the comprehensive approaches that were are looking for. So, inadvertently, you do affect uptake of services because not what you are doing is compartmentalising women’s lives and saying this part of your problem, we have a policy that says you can’t get access but everything else we can do for you.

That is something that I really believe was negative. We saw in the services, particularly, those non-governmental organisations that were beneficiaries of the funding providing these services. So, that lumped the two issues into my reply because it is really about this comprehensive approach that we want to promote, even as we focus on this preventable cancer. Thank you.

CD          Thank you for that comprehensive answer. Do we have Latika, from Sydney Morning Herald on the line and, if so, could you unmute Latika and please go ahead and ask your question.

01:11:46

LB          Thank you very much for taking my question. Dr Tedros and any other members of the panel, I was struck by Australia’s health minister outlining how Australia is on track to eliminate cervical cancer by 2035 and then so many of your other panelists underlining how 90% of deaths are occurring in the low and middle-income countries.

So, what more do you need or would like to see countries like Australia doing to help address that to achieve your targets? Are you concerned at all that those things are going to be made more difficult than even your quest for better solidarity in responding to COVID, given HPV is a much more silent killer and it is not highly transmissible like COVID-19?

CD          Thanks very much for that question. Would you like to address that, Dr Nono? Thanks.

NS         What we expect from countries that have moved closer to the target is the support that we have seen come through from Australia, championing the resolution and making sure that we arrive at this first year anniversary. Relationships between countries that have the means, that also have the wherewithal to do this and countries that are really lagging behind is what we are seeking to achieve.

We would like to see more work being done with North-South collaboration. We expect that support and we know that it will come through. I think it is very exciting to hear these new announcements because even within Australia we know that there are women who still have challenges with access. We are learning lessons from how they are dealing with the indigenous populations because these are part and parcel of the challenges, mainly in low and lower-middle-income countries.

01:13:50

We look forward to Australia’s support, to their example, their exemplar in how you deal with these things and we have even the professor, who DG referred to, who identified and developed this vaccine working on the expert group. So, it’s about knowledge-sharing, it’s about partnerships, it’s also about examples for other countries of how you reach the targets to eliminate cervical cancer. We work closely with Professor Frazer and many others in Australia to help us support other countries. Over to you, DG.

CD          Yes, would any of our first ladies, who may still be on the line, would you like to come in here and comment, please? I don’t think they’re on the line still but I’m going to hand over to Dr Tedros now.

TAG        Thank you. Thank you so much. First of all, I would like to thank Australia for its commitment and the announcement also from the minister. I think we need that kind of leadership. I think you associated this with COVID. Of course, COVID is acute and everybody is now focused because it is an emergency and, as you rightly said, cervical cancer is a silent killer and it is not really as visible as the emergency we’re facing now. But, losing two women every one minute is not a small problem, it’s a big problem.

But, as has been said, most of the countries that are contributing to the disease are actually developing countries and as we speak 80 countries have not started vaccination and they contribute two thirds of the disease we see now.

01:16:09

So, going forward what can countries do and follow Australia’s example? One is to take the 90-70-90 target as their target. That is the first thing to do. That we have said already earlier. The 90% vaccination, 70% screening, 90% treatment and also the 90% palliative care.

The first thing should be to own the target, this global target. Then, of course, we know what is needed to achieve this target. We need the vaccines, we need the test kits, we need the drugs, meaning we need resources, so there should be support from countries and donors and foundations to contribute in terms of resources that could go to those products, starting from vaccines, as I said.

It is almost the same as what we’re doing now for COVID. We have the 40% target by the end of this year and we have the amount already known, the amount of vaccines we need to vaccinate the 40%. So, we need to approach cervical cancer the same way, relate it to target, the resources we need and then mobilisation of donors and those who can afford to support others to provide the support that is need.

Of course, not only from governments, but as I said in my statement, this should be the responsibility of the manufacturers also. We need access to the treatment, access to vaccines, access to the test kits and the role of the manufacturers is also very, very important.

01:18:17

That is why, by the way, we took Henrietta Lacks as a reference. Her cells are being used and the cells are actually impacted the world in many positive ways and I think we should remember her. She didn’t have a chance to survive because there were no tools but now, because of her, we have tools, so we owe it to her and we owe it to the women who are suffering from this disease to provide the support that’s needed to achieve the targets we have already set for ourselves.

So, that’s what we need. It’s already in the strategy and we need to make sure that we have the world mobilised to eliminate cervical cancer and it is possible. Thank you, Carla, and back to you.

CD          Thanks so much, Dr Tedros. You mentioned Henrietta Lacks and in this next section of today’s programme we will be hearing from members of Henrietta Lacks’ family, so that will be really exciting. I would like to just thank all of our speakers today and also to the journalists who stayed on a joined us. Also, a huge thanks to our interpreters, as always.

We will be sending post-presser links. We’ve already sent to our global media list the press release and if you have any further questions for media, please do write to [email protected]

Now, I’m going to hand the floor over to Richard Freeman, who is WHO Advocacy Lead for Cervical Cancer Elimination Initiative and he will moderate the second hour of today’s event in conjunction with Dr Nono. Richard, you have the floor.

01:20:35

RF          Thank you and thank you, everyone, for joining us. One year ago today we launched the Global Strategy to Accelerate the Elimination of Cervical Cancer and communities around the world rallied by turning words into action. On this day last year, the countdown to achieve the 90-70-90 targets by the year 2030 began.

To mark the occasion, advocates, communities, ministries have again mobilised actions to advance cervical cancer elimination. We’ll take you to a number of locations around the world where efforts are underway at this moment but first we’ll hear from the survivors and advocates. They’re the real warriors on the frontlines of the fight to eliminate cervical cancer.

[Video starts].

How do I describe myself? [Karen, Zambia]. I am a mother of two. [Eve, United States]. I am first a momma to two delicious little kiddies. [Nanthini, Malaysia]. I’m a mother for two kids. [Laura, United Kingdom]. I’ve got two children. [Edilia, El Salvador]. [Foreign language].

[Karen, Zambia]. I’m naturally a very happy person. [Laura, United Kingdom] Busy. Always busy. [Nanthini, Malaysia]. I’m working in a florist. [Edilia, El Salvador]. [Foreign language]. [Masuzgyo, Zambia]. I live in Mazabuka, Zambia. [Edilia, El Salvador]. El Salvador. [Nanthini, Malaysia]. Malaysia. [Karen, Zambia]. Lusaka, Zambia. [Eve, United States]. The United States.

01:21:59

[Masuzgyo, Zambia]. I’m a cancer survivor. [Eve, United States]. I’m a cervical cancer survivor. [We are coming together to mark one year of the global movement]. [Nanthini, Malaysia]. Since I was small, I thought that there’s no treatment for cervical cancer or any other cancers. If anybody with cancer, they will die.

[Edilia, El Salvador]. [Foreign language]. [Eve, United States]. I was diagnosed with stage 2B cervical cancer when I was pregnant with my second baby, my son Arthur. I was completely unprepared. [Laura, United Kingdom]. And, I just kept saying, I can’t die, I can’t die because you think of cancer and you think death. I just kept saying please save me. [Masuzgyo, Zambia]. I told myself, what I’m going through, no other woman is supposed to go through.

[Eve, United States]. The pandemic has underscored for all of us, how fragile our healthcare systems truly are and even more devastatingly it has underscored how deep our cleavages are in access to quality care. The people who need the care the most are often the first left behind.

[Edilia, El Salvador]. A neighbour of mine didn’t want to undergo the treatment. She said to me, no. No one can defeat cancer. And I said, yes, you will get over it. Look at me. I’m a cancer survivor. Thank God my friend listened to me. And, there she is. She is a cancer survivor.

[Masuzgyo, Zambia]. I asked myself if I don’t want any other woman to go through it then how will I help out the women out there? Given any opportunity that I have I always want to talk to the women and let them know cervical cancer is real. [Karen, Zambia]. I was nominated to sit on the Commonwealth Task Force to Eliminate Cervical Cancer. I am partnered with other civil society organisations in-country because I believe that synergy is what is going to help eradicate cervical cancer.

01:24:19

[Laura, United Kingdom]. I’m advocating these issues through all the charity work that I do. For every woman that I speak to I learn something different. It was very easy for me at the beginning to judge someone who didn’t make screening important in their life but I know now how difficult it can be for some women and, for me, it’s all about listening, encouraging and supporting, not judging anyone, just being there for when they need me.

[Eve, United States]. Part of my purpose in supporting this initiative is making sure that every eligible woman receives the same type of care that I was so fortunate to receive in my battle against cervical cancer. [Karen, Zambia]. I see the movement creating a lot of traction. I see it creating a lot of conversations, but most importantly I see it creating a lot of coordination and cooperation amongst countries.

[Nanthini, Malaysia]. To the parents out there, please allow your children to get the HPV vaccine so that they will be protected. And, for the ladies out there, go and get screened yourself. Go and save your life. [Laura. United Kingdom]. Reach out for anyone you care about with a cervix. Tell them to look after themselves.

01:25:39

[Masuzgyo, Zambia]. I would actually stand on top of the world and encourage each and every women to say have you had your screening? [Karen, Zambia]. Women are the cornerstone and fibre of every society and so when we lose one woman it’s the whole society that suffers.

[Edilia, El Salvador]. I feel like I’m a warrior. I keep on living despite all the illness I have had. But, here I am. [Eve, United States]. And, for any woman who is unfortunately experiencing the same or may experience the same diagnosis let my message release you from the shame that you may feel.

[Edilia, El Salvador]. Here I am, encouraging people to undergo treatments. [Karen, Zambia]. To my fellow survivors, I’d like to encourage you not to waste your pain. There’s a woman out there who is going through exactly what you went through and they could use your experience.

[Laura, United Kingdom]. To leaders and policymakers what I say is you’re the ones who can make the difference, so do it. There’s no price on a life no matter what your postcode is. Wherever you live in the planet, every life matters. That’s what it means to me.

[Masuzgyo, Zambia]. I represent survival and life today, I represent it. [Join the movement to eliminate cervical cancer].

[Video ends].

RF          The colour for cervical cancer awareness and now the colour for elimination is the colour teal. When we launched the strategy on November 17th last year out of the darkness of the current pandemic, communities showed our resolve by lighting up monuments in teal.

01:27:28

Today, on the first anniversary of that moment over 100 landmarks in all regions are showing our resolve to eliminate cervical cancer again. In the evening time zones some landmarks have already begun lighting up and more are coming to your part of the world soon. Let’s have a look.

[Video plays].

[Last year a tradition began. Over 100 landmarks around the world glowed teal to launch a global movement to eliminate cervical cancer. One year later, the world continues the tradition… It’s already begun.]

[National Carillon, Australia]. [Old Parliament House, Australia]. Telstra Tower, Australia]. [Maroc Telecom Tower, Morocco]. […more are on the way.] [Kyoto Tower, Japan]. [Cebu City Hall, Philippines]. [Christchurch Airport, New Zealand]. [Great Silk Road Registan Square, Uzbekistan]. [Bled Castle, Slovenia]. [Palace of Culture and Science, Poland]. [Colombo Town Hall, Sri Lanka]. [Howrah Bridge, India]. [Emir of Argungu Palace, Nigeria].

[Capitol Building, Puerto Rico]. [Colpatria Tower, Colombia]. [Ponte Estaiada, Brazil]. [16th Street Baptist Church, Birmingham, USA]. Niagara Falls, Canada]. [The movement is building. Join us to #GlowTeal for a world without cervical cancer.]

[Video ends].

01:28:54

RF          This year the Director-General honoured Henrietta Lacks posthumously with an award to recognise her life and her legacy. Henrietta Lacks died of cervical cancer in 1951 in Baltimore at a time of legalised racial segregation. She was exploited when her HeLa cells were taken without her knowledge but through her cells she left behind a contribution that changed the world, allowing for countless medical innovations.

The Lacks family is back with us today and they’re mobilising action for cervical cancer elimination in their community. We’ll now go to Baltimore to her great-granddaughter, Veronica Robinson, who is with us on the line.

VR          I join you from the lab where I honour my great-grandmother’s legacy and her HeLa cells from the bedside. Her cells have not just had an impact on our family but has had an impact on the world. From polio, HIV, COVID and HPV, even IVF, my great-grandmother has a huge impact on the world.

As we continue to celebrate our Hennie, the mother of modern medicine. Through HELA100, the Henrietta Lacks family-led initiative has four objectives. Celebration. Help us celebrate my great-grandmother, Henrietta Lacks, legacy by reclaiming her story, HELA100, to ensure her contributions are recognised and the impact of her HeLa cells are honoured, not just in our family but worldwide.

Conversation. Through HELA100, the Lacks family-led initiative, we’ve been facilitating conversations to educate the next generation on Henrietta Lacks’ impact by amplifying trusted voices while advancing diversity, equity and inclusion.

01:30:51

Collaborations. The Lacks family, we believe that we should collaborate to educate and empower patients, providers and policymakers to improve our outcomes globally and increase access to the innovations made possible by my great grandmother, Henrietta Lacks and her HeLa cells.

Mobilisation. Mobilising through the arts, advocacy education and science to honour Henrietta Lacks legacy around the world while promoting health equity and social justice. Next, you’ll be hearing from my sister, Victoria Baptiste, our family’s RN, a frontline worker, who will be joining you from the bedside.

VB          Today, on cervical cancer elimination call to action, I will be using my call to action her, as a nurse, in the clinic. I’m educating my patients on cervical cancer screening, as well as treatment and HPV vaccines.

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the HeLa cells and the Lacks family went on a worldwide tour honouring her legacy through arts, advocacy, education and research. We launched in Bristol with a statue unveiling. We had conversations with Her Excellency, Dr Shinkafi-Bagudu and Dr Amina Abubakar Bello, as well as Karen Nakawala, of the Teal Sisters in Zambia. We then went over to be honoured with a wonderful award in Geneva with the WHO.

And, today, the Lacks family is proud to announce the first steps to eliminate cervical cancer. We will be hosting a Listening Summit, including survivors, providers, caregivers, community leaders, patient navigators and clinicians like myself to listen, learn and identify barriers and solutions. So, I want to turn it over to my cousin, Alfred.

01:33:05

AC          My family is honoured to join the World Health Organization because we know and no woman should be denied these vaccines that were created by the HeLa cell and the Lacks family is demanding access for all women, all girls, all boys and all communities around the world. We all stand together in solidarity to eliminate cervical cancer once and for all.

RF          Veronica is on the line with a few words for us, Veronica Robinson, Henrietta Lacks’ great granddaughter.

VR          As you’ve just seen, it’s been a remarkable year for us. Thank you to her excellences, Dr Tedros, Dr Nono and Richard. On behalf of Henrietta Lacks’ family, we are honoured to be here today again with our friends from the World Health Organization, global leaders and advocates on the Cervical Cancer Elimination Day.

RF          Thank you. Thank you, Veronica, and thank you to the Lacks family. Now, we’d like to go around the world and share a look at some of the Day of Action activities that have been unfolding to mark one year of cervical cancer elimination effort. We’re going to begin with the Western Pacific region but to get us started, I have the honour of giving the floor to the Ambassador of Australia, Her Excellency, Sally Mansfield, for a few remarks.

01:34:55

SM         Thank you very much, indeed, Dr Tedros, distinguished guests, women and girls everywhere, in particular health workers, colleagues. Australia is really proud to be here to reiterate our support for cervical cancer elimination worldwide. This is a time of immense challenge, particularly for women and girls who have suffered the greatest burden as a result of the pandemic.

We’ve seen health systems around the world disrupted as never before and we must work together to ensure everyone gets the best health services possible and that has to include prevention and early detection of cervical cancer.

Cervical cancer is still one of the most common causes of cancer-related death in women across the globe, with incidents nearly twice as high in low and middle-income countries and death rates three times as high, but it doesn’t have to be like this.

Australia’s achievements show that eliminating cervical cancer is an attainable public health goal. Since we started national screening back in 1991 and rolled out HPV vaccination in 2007, Australia has halved the number of women who die from this insidious disease and we’re on track for elimination by 2035.

01:36:19

As the Director-General and the eminent speakers before me have emphasised, we have the knowledge, we have the tools to stop women suffering and dying from this preventable disease. This is why Australia supports so strongly the development of the global strategy and why we are working so hard to implement it.

We know where the highest burden of cancer sits. It sits in the developing world. Within Australia’s region, the Indo-Pacific countries, Australia is working to implement the WHO global strategy with partners including UNFPA, IPPF and Gavi, to strengthen services and support the regional rollout of HPV vaccines.

We’ve just heard from a number of fabulous women who have survived. They’re speaking out, they’re speaking up and that makes these women extraordinary. If we seize the opportunities that are within our reach now, girls who are born today, girls who are born this year will live to see a world free of cervical cancer. Let’s make this our legacy and as Dr Tedros said, together we can. Thank you.

RF          Now, we’ll see some of the activities that are happening today in the Western Pacific Region.

[Video plays].

WL         [Malaysia]. [Prof Dr Woo Yin Ling, Medical Technical Advisor]. On behalf of Malaysia and ROSE Foundation, I’m very pleased to be able to share with you all the community effort and how we, as Malaysians, have come together to celebrate the first anniversary of the Global Strategy to Eliminate Cervical Cancer.

01:38:21

LN          [Lai Voon Mei]. Part of the first anniversary of the Global Strategy to Eliminate Cervical Cancer and on behalf of Lions Club we have created this huge event down in the RuMa Hotel in Kuala Lumpur in conjunction to celebrate this very, very important event. They should have more self-love in themselves with their minds and with their body and what better way than to do this self-testing HPV for eliminating cervical cancer.

AD          [Prof Dato’ Dr Adeeba Kamarulzaman]. In the coming years, in the coming months, what we hope to do is to continue to implement programme ROSE with strategic partnerships to reach out to women all over Malaysia.

ZS          [Dr Zakiah Bt Mohd Said]. In conjunction with the celebration of the first anniversary of this movement, Malaysia is working towards a cervical cancer-free nation with a national action plan carefully aligned to all.

[Video ends].

[Video plays].

[China]. [12 cities in China conduct awareness activities and illuminate landmarks to mark the first year of the Cervical Cancer Elimination Movement]. [School of Population Medicine and Public Health]. [Jining]. [Dalian]. [Baotou]. [Zhengzhou]. [Lanzhou]. [Urumqi]. [Chengdu]. [Chongqing]. [Xiamen]. [Guangzhou]. [Shenzhen].

[Video ends].

01:41:35

RF          While we focus on cervical cancer elimination, we also must not forget the physical pain and suffering that the disease brings, yet many patients lack access to the palliative care that WHO’s elimination strategy calls for. So, to commemorate one year of this effort, Smriti Rana, a palliative care advocate with Pallium India, and many others, along with cancer survivor, Poonam Bagai, organised an effort among the caretakers of cervical cancer patients. To reflect on the importance of mitigating the pain of the loved ones, they shared this message today.

[Video plays].

VO          How can it be that the first and most effective line of defence against one of the deadliest and most painful cancers is the simple act of knowing. Cervical cancer in India is not a disease of only the impoverished. It is a disease of the unaware.

Privilege and poverty both fall prey to it and for each life afflicted there are caregivers affected. Stigma around this cancer leads to silence and the silence is lethal. It claims the lives of more women than any other cancer. It ravages their bodies and lives in ways inexplicable. This need not be but it is.

Palliative care can help if only one knew to ask for it. It is the only kind of cancer in the world today that has not one but two vaccines that can completely prevent it. It can be easily screened for and, if caught, can be stopped in its tracks. But, great science without awareness cannot overcome this. Let’s take back the spaces cervical cancer has claimed. Let’s honour these faces who are living and dying with it.

[Video ends].

01:43:40

RF          The message indicated two HPV vaccines but as we noted earlier in the press conference there are more options globally. We’ll now move to the Southeast Asia region where, Sutapa Biswas, at Cancer Foundation of India, shares an update on some of the progress made in and around Kolkata in this first year and Dr Neerja Bhatla, a member of the Director-General’s Expert Group for Cervical Cancer Elimination will share some of exciting activities happening today for the Day of Action.

[Video plays].

VO          How can it be that the first and most effective line of defence against one of the deadliest and most painful cancers is the simple act of knowing. Cervical cancer in India is not a disease of only the impoverished. It is a disease of…

RF          Shall we proceed? Okay. We’ll return to this. So, to continue, it’s now my great pleasure to introduce an extraordinary champion for women and children all around the world, four-time Grammy Award winner and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, Angélique Kidjo.

01:45:19

AK          Excellencies, Minister, and everyone joining from around the world. One year ago, we were together for a historic moment when the world committed to eliminate cervical cancer and to stand up for women’s health. This is a time to remind each other of how important is it to say the course.

I am encouraged by the day of action today in countries all over the world, even during the pandemic, and I salute the brave cervical cancer survivors who have shared their stories and advocated for their sisters, women like Karen, Masuzgyo, Eve, Nanthini, Kanshan, Obiageli.

This has also been a hard year. The pandemic has prolonged many disruptions to health services, to livelihoods, to schools. It is a further injustice that the tools to stop the pandemic have not been shared equitably with many African countries. When it comes to women’s health, that is especially troubling. Even before COVID, of the 20 countries with the highest burden of cervical cancer…

RF          Okay. We’ll continue to West Africa, starting with a cervical cancer awareness campaign that’s taking place. Are we ready? Okay. We’ll come back. In the meantime, let’s continue to West Africa, where several cancer awareness campaigns have been taking place over the past few days, including today, and one campaign in Ouagadougou’s main market, where the ministry and several partners of the SUCCESS consortium have been mobilising efforts.

[Video plays].

So, we’re encouraging our mothers, sisters to get screened very regularly. Screening is important. Since around 2016, screening has become free and treatment of pre-cancerous cells. This is a cancer which evolves slowly over time. It takes 15 to 20 years to become truly cancerous, which is why we can avoid it.

01:48:43

As a project that we’ve rolled out to eliminate cervical cancer, we’ve focused on specific regions, and we’re conducting this project very well. What we do is we try to identify the virus which leads to the cancer. That’s HPV. Good communication is very critical, clear communication. So, we try to communicate with women where women are to be found, out in the streets, and at busy places where women congregate. Our results are positive. Many associations are onboard. With the support and help of our partners and the International Union Against Cancer, we have a coalition to lead this project.

This is the team from the Cervical Cancer Prevention and Training Centre in Catholic Hospital Battor, Ghana. We are happy to celebrate with the World Health Organization the first anniversary of the launch of the strategy to eliminate cervical cancer. We would like to use this opportunity to demonstrate to the whole world that it is possible to use current technology to reach out to women in the most deprived communities in the world. We shall be using current technology, like cell sampling for HPV DNA testing, mobile colposcopy, and thermal ablation to demonstrate that it is possible to reach out to these women.

[Video ends].

01:51:34

[Video plays].

In 2020, on November 17, the WHO launched its elimination of cervical cancer strategy, and this year for the commemoration of that launch, we’re doing a series of programmes, and this meeting is one of those such programmes, all aimed at achieving the aim of that WHO elimination strategy. The vision is a world where cervical cancer is eliminated as a public health problem.

If the person is screened and you are able to detect either the HPV or the pre-cancerous changes that are occurring, you can actually treat the one who has it from that point, thereby eliminating the chance of her developing cervical cancer. As stakeholders, your write in here is very important to ensure our children get vaccinated and are protected from not only cervical cancer but from other HPV cancers. Prevention and early detection of cancer remains the best chance of survival.

[Video ends].

RF          And, now we’ll return to Angélique Kidjo, UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador.

AK          Excellencies, ministers, and everyone joining from around the world. One year ago, we were together for an historic moment when the world committed to eliminate cervical cancer and to stand up for women’s health. This is the time to remind each other of how important it is to stay the course. I am encouraged by the Day of Action today in countries all over the world, even during the pandemic. And I salute the brave cervical cancer survivors who have shared their stories and advocate for their sisters. Women like Karen, Masuzgyo, Eve, Nanthini, Kanshan, and Obiageli.

01:54:49

This has also been a hard year. The pandemic has prolonged many disruptions to health services, to livelihoods, to schools. It is a further injustice that the tools to stop the pandemic have not been shared equitably with many African countries. When it comes to women’s health, that is especially troubling. Even before COVID, of the 20 countries with the highest burden of cervical cancer, 19 of them were already in Africa.

We cannot allow disparities to widen even more. Eliminating cervical cancer means fighting back. It means rejecting the status quo where women in Africa continue carrying the heaviest burden of cervical cancer. Rejecting the notion that African girls have less access to the HPV vaccine, rejecting a world where women in Africa are screened for cancer with lower quality techniques, even when high-performance tests are available in the global North.

This is not just a dream. A higher standard of health is attainable. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. This movement is about women’s rights. It is about restoring women’s dignity, and it is about giving all girls a future free from the one cancer we have the tools to eliminate. We’re just getting started. And now, I’m happy to take you to the countries in Africa where today communities are mobilising efforts for cervical cancer elimination.

01:56:31

[Video plays].

UF          Muraho. Warm greetings from Rwanda. Over the past year, Rwanda has worked to increase access to cervical cancer screening with HPV DNA testing and visual inspection with acetic acid, as well as treatment of pre-cancerous lesions through training of healthcare providers at hospitals and health centres.

The facilities have been equipped with treatment devices and electronic patient tracking tools. Furthermore, community health workers have been trained to conduct demand generation activities and follow-up of women with pending clinic visits. With the increase in cervical cancer screening and treatment service availability in the country, we have been able to screen 177,000 women and treated 87% of the women who were eligible for treatment.

To commemorate the first anniversary of the Elimination Strategy launch, we are conducting screening activities in all health facilities in Rusizi District and cervical cancer awareness through billboards, radio talk shows, and a broadcasted screening of Ministry of Health and Rwanda Biomedical Centre personnel.

This year has taught us that the elimination of cervical cancer requires a multisectoral approach. Going into the second year towards elimination, we will focus on expanding access to cervical cancer screening and treatment of pre-cancerous lesions to all districts across the country and improving access to quality management for women with invasive cancer. Thank you. Murabeho. Goodbye.

01:58:17

MN        My name is Dr Mary Nyangasi. I head the National Cancer Control programme in Kenya. Kenya has embraced the call to eliminate cervical cancer as a public health problem, and we are working towards achieving the target set by WHO. So far, we have a national vaccination programme that is targeting girls 10 to 14 years, and we are working towards improving this coverage further.

We also are training our healthcare workers on screening and treatment of pre-cancerous lesions. We have provided these healthcare workers with treatment devices. We have trained nearly 6,000 healthcare workers on cervical cancer this year alone. We are also training our community health volunteers on cervical cancer and teaching them about the cell sampling techniques using the HPV kit so they are able to educate our women in their communities and provide them with these kits for screening in the comfort of their homes.

UF          Today, November 17, marks the first anniversary of the launch of the cervical cancer strategy on the elimination of cervical cancer as a public health problem. Malawi joins the world in this commemoration. In light of our commitment that we made in 2020, Malawi revised its cervical cancer strategy, which will run from 2022 to 2026.

02:00:00

In that strategy, we have advocated for increased allocation of resources. Also, there’s been expansion of screening and treatment of cervical cancer. We also have started implementing the Human Papilloma Virus screening, and this is being done in 13 of these facilities, but we have more facilities, and we need to keep on scaling this initiative.

There’s been task shifting of the large loop excision of the transformation zone – LLETZ -- which we have expanded from tertiary facilities to secondary facilities in collaboration with our partners, CHAI, Health Policy Plus, and the Association of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Malawi, AOGM. We’ve developed a curriculum on this, and we have trained over 29 clinicians across the country. With this effort, we believe there is going to be an increase in terms of screening, but also management of the large lesions. So, women are going to access this self-test and we’ll reduce the burden of cervical cancer. I thank you for your attention.

[Video ends].

RF          In this inaugural year of the Global Effort to Eliminate Cervical Cancer, the Commonwealth and UICC launched the International Task Force on Cervical Cancer Elimination in the Commonwealth. The Task Force is committed to engaging youth. They’re a critical part of this effort. So, to highlight their role, we’ll now go to just a short message from Gideon Gachihi, a youth representative of the Task Force who shared this message from Kenya today.

Okay, we can proceed in that case while they resolve the technical difficulty, and we can move on to the activities in the European region. We’ll start in Europe also with some young advocates. They are organizing around today’s Day of Action, and they formed a youth group of teenagers to mobilize around HPV awareness and cervical cancer elimination. To Europe.

02:03:05

[Video plays].

CE          Hi everyone. My name is Celine, and I’m the leader of Engage Teens. My personal goal within this youth organisation is to de-stigmatise sexual health, as well as taking an active role in our education and knowledge about HPV and cervical cancer. Our involvement is so important because we believe that teenagers will listen and care more if they see that members of their own generation are concerned about these topics. For example, my friends take cervical cancer so much more seriously since I’ve shared the steps I’ve taken in my health to prevent it. For example, getting the HPV vaccine. We encourage you to get the youths’ voices in your countries more active in this conversation because we feel that just eliminating one cancer can be the beginning of the end to all cancers.

MA         Hi, I’m Magda, and I’m from Hungary. Happy Cervical Cancer Elimination Day. In the one year since WHO has launched Cervical Cancer Elimination Initiative, an organisation called Engage Teens has been launched in Europe to advocate for knowledge about HPV and cervical cancer prevention. I find involving teens crucial because the sooner we start prevention, the more effective it will be. This is a huge step for cervical cancer eradication because now we are getting involved in promoting awareness and starting conversations as the next generation. We are now taking an active role in enacting change for ourselves and our friends so that in the future, we can say that we beat cervical cancer.

02:04:34

CZ          Dear Dr Tedros, dear Princess Nono, dear activists from all over the world. This is a very important day. Today, we celebrate the one-year anniversary of the first global commitment ever to eliminate cervical cancer. Thank you, Dr Tedros, for your strong commitment to women’s health. Thank you very much for your strong commitment against cervical cancer. As you know, I share the same commitment and the same ambition as you. As a gynaecologist, as an activist, but also as a Member of the European Parliament.

On behalf of my dear friends, some good news to share with you from Europe. In the past year, we have made two ambitious commitments:  firstly, to vaccinate 90% of girls against HPV by 2030, and, of course, to increase also the vaccination of boys. And secondly, to offer screening to 90% of European women who must continue to support the WHO and all the partner countries to achieve the global strategy.

Every country, every region, every continent, all together, we can beat cervical cancer. We have nine years ahead of us. We have all the elements to be successful. Qualified doctors and nurses, patients, survivors, researchers, advocates, and fundraisers. We have the medical tools. Now we have a very, very strong political commitment. So, let’s work together, my friends. This is a fight for women’s health, and this is a fight for women’s rights.

02:06:25

RF          We’ll now return to the message from Gideon, the young clinician in Kenya from the Commonwealth Task Force who has been working on youth activism around cervical cancer elimination.

[Video plays].

GG         My name is Gideon Gachihi. I’m a Kenyan youth. I am also a clinician here. I am also privileged to be a member of the Commonwealth Cervical Cancer Task Force, where I am involved in advocacy and advocating for more programmes towards the fight against cervical cancer. So, as a youth, together with my group, who are based in Kenya, we are mainly involved in activities such as sexualisation of women against cervical cancer.

We are also actively involved in the process of administration of vaccines in young ladies. We are clinicians and privileged to be involved in the treatment of cervical cancer patients. We come together, as we committed to this here today, the fight against cervical cancer. So, together we’ll fight cervical cancer.

[Video ends].

RF          Okay. We’ll now continue to move across the world and see some of the activities that have been happening in the Americas region, where some of the submissions are sharing a look at what’s happening today, on the Day of Action, and also a look back at a few of the highlights during this inaugural year in countries in the Americas.

02:08:21

[Video plays].

JF           We are very proud of the efforts done by the WHO. We have inaugurated the first Centre to fight cervical cancer. This is a comprehensive Centre for cancer. So, we’re trying to have communities across the hemisphere to eliminate this cancer. In order to commemorate this day, we will continue our work in order to support free activities, awareness-raising activities. The work has just begun, and we are absolutely committed to eliminating cervical cancer.

CE          I’m Craig Earle, CEO of the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer. The Canadian Partnership Against Cancer is excited to be celebrating the first year of this historic global commitment to eliminate a cancer. Last year, we launched Canada’s Action Plan to Eliminate Cervical Cancer in conjunction with the global strategy. The Action Plan is Canada’s road map to improve HPV immunisation rates, transition to HPV primary screening, and enhanced follow-up practices. Efforts to implement the action plan are now underway.

Over the past year, the majority of provinces in Canada have initiated plans to move from Pap testing to HPV primary screening, with the option of self-collection, making screening programmes more effective, resilient, and easier to access. We’re also working with public health partners to better identify under-immunised populations and re-design HPV immunisation programmes, which vary greatly from coast to coast to coast.

02:10:52

Shifts in service delivery are also taking place in Canada. As one example, our Yukon Territory has expanded access to HPV immunisation by offering it free in pharmacies to anyone up to the age of 26. The Canadian Partnership Against Cancer is working with partners across the country to drive this work forward and is committed to taking action to create a cervical cancer-free future. To help mark this special occasion, the 3D Toronto sign behind me, along with other major landmarks in Canada, will be lilt up in teal later on tonight, so you can keep an eye out for that.

CC          I am Carolina Wiesner, head of the National Institute of Cancerology. In Colombia, we are committed to eradicate cervical cancer in the long term. We have included the vaccine within the national immunisation programme, and we expect to restore our vaccination coverage in this post-pandemic period. We have the holistic attention guidelines for cervical cancer control that includes human papilloma virus screening. Several insurers have started this screening, and, of course, there will be universal access to attention for women with neoplastic injuries or cancer.

CP          My name is Carlos Humberto Perez Moreno. I am the Director-General of San Jose Hospital in Bogota and current president of the International Federation of Colposcopy and Lower Genital Tract Pathology. We work side-by-side with the National Institute of Cancerology and the Colombian Federation of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, FECOLSOG, on the issue of preventing cervical cancer.

02:12:56

We have encouraged vaccination against the human papilloma virus, aiming to reach the levels we had before the pandemic. We have made a significant effort with our partnerships on this matter, as well as with everything related with screening molecular tests, which is the screening law in our country.

It is important that patients know and demand the test, take it, and, depending on the results, come to us, the gynaecologists. We provide proper diagnosis and treatment to all pre-neoplastic diseases to prevent patients from having cervical cancer. So, we are committed with our country and Latin America through the federations to prevent cervical cancer. Thank you very much for your attention.

[Foreign language].

[Video ends].

RF          We now have a very short message from Mrs Obiageli, a cervical cancer patient in Nigeria, which she actually shared with us just a few days ago. So, we’ll go to listen to her brief message, and then we’ll hear from the Co-Chair of the Director-General’s Expert Group, Professor Groesbeck Parham, who is with us live on the line following this clip. Thank you.

[Video plays].

MO         [Foreign language].

[Video ends].

02:16:46

RF          The Co-Chair of the Director-General’s Expert Group, Professor Groesbeck Parham. The floor is yours.

GP          Thank you, Richard. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and to participate in this wonderful programme. Women like Obiageli, who we just saw on video, but who incidentally died from cervical cancer two days ago. Women like her are still dying by the hundreds of thousands each year, and in her own words, which maybe you didn’t hear, in her own words, before she transitioned, I think she provides us with wise counsel, and I quote, this is what she said I’m calling on other women, I’m calling on other people to come together to help ourselves. If we fight it, we will survive. And, I’ll repeat that. She said, I’m calling on other women. I’m calling on other people to come together to help ourselves. If we fight it, we will survive.”

I think if there’s one thing we have not emphasised enough in the fight to eliminate cervical cancer is that we, and I count myself among the we because I’ve been living and working in Zambia for almost the past 20 years fighting against this disease. If there’s one thing we have not emphasised enough in the fight to eliminate cervical cancer is that we, as workers on the front line of cancer care in high disease-burdened countries, have spent too much time looking outside of ourselves for solutions rather than looking within ourselves.

02:18:54

We know we have weak health infrastructures, but as healthcare workers, we can do some of the work, a large part of the work to strengthen these healthcare infrastructures. We can train one another. There are not many of us, for instance, on the continent of Africa, who know how to perform radical surgical procedures for women with early-stage cancers, cervical cancers, but there are enough of us, there are enough of nurses who now are experts in cervical cancer screening to train other nurses.

We can establish regional centres of radiation therapy. Every country does not necessarily need to have a radiation therapy centre. That has failed, and it will probably always fail because the equipment is too expensive to purchase and too expensive to keep up, but we can come together as healthcare workers in these countries and establish regional centres of radiation therapy.

We can also come together and organise ourselves and generate some of the resources that we need to actually build hospitals and build clinics that we need, instead of always looking outside for donors to do so. We understand the culture, and we know how to increase demand for screening women among women and among men. We can also form organisations of front-line providers, doctors, nurses, etc, to go to pharmaceutical companies and other corporations, and ourselves lobby for vaccines at lower prices and other equipment and supplies that we need to provide the services for women and girls in our countries.

Women’s groups, men’s groups, church groups, etc, these are local organisations I’m talking about in each country, need to look within their own organisations and find ways to initiate the types of activities that will help lead to the expansion of the services that we need to eliminate this disease.

02:21:18

So, my call is her call, that we need to look within ourselves, that the women in the countries and across the globe need to stand up for their sisters with our help, our assistance. But we need to look within for many of the solutions and do more ourselves instead of looking without. Thank you.

RF          Thank you, Prof. To close out the day, we now have a very special performance from some of Ireland’s toughest cancer warriors, the Sea of Change Choir. This group of women cancer survivors are even in the Guinness Book of World Records for their extraordinary advocacy. Let’s go now to the RTE News Studio in Dublin, Ireland, from where they’ll be sending their message.

EI           Greetings from Dublin, Ireland, where, in a few moments, you will hear a wonderful performance from the Sea of Change Choir. This choir is made up of a group of very brave Irish women who’ve been affected by cancer and, for the past few years, they’ve been performing all around Ireland, raising awareness of cancer and raising almost one million euro to help fight childhood cancer. They’ve even performed in the European Parliament. Along the way, these women have been an inspiration for so many cancer patients, survivors, and advocates, and we congratulate them and thank them for all their efforts.

02:22:58

Sea of Change Choir is delighted to be part of the World Health Organization’s Global Effort to Eliminate Cervical Cancer, which affects nearly 600,000 women every year. Today, this amazing group of women, directed by Ian Brabazon, will perform the very aptly titled Times Are Tough, But So Are We, written by Irish songwriter, Paddy Casey. I’ll hand you over now to Deirdre Featherstone, one of the founding members of Sea of Change.

DF          Thanks, Eileen. Welcome to the Sea of Change Choir, a choir full of cancer supporters and survivors. We are so humbled to be with you here tonight. A few years ago, on Ireland’s Got Talent, our 44 members in the choir, with 79-1/2 boobs, bared all, showed our scars and said, this is the moment, that this is me. So, today we are so honoured to be talking to the world, and we want to say no more, and we really remember our three girls that we’ve lost in the last year within our choir. Thank you so much, and I hope you enjoy the performance.

[Video plays].

[Choir sings].

[Video ends].

NS         A stunning end to a beautiful day. I hope we take inspiration from the Sea of Change, from all the advocates that we had speaking today, and we continue in our own little way to move the needle forward. WHO has done a lot, but there’s much more we can do. So, I just want to say thank you to everybody who’s been watching, to the advocates, to every effort that’s gone into this anniversary. The women, the girls, and the world will acknowledge your work. Thank you very much.

02:27:40