Cervical cancer could be the world’s first cancer eliminated ever if we follow the Cervical Cancer Elimination Initiative of the World Health Organization (WHO):
- 90% of girls fully vaccinated with the HPV vaccine by the age of 15
- 70% of women screened using a high-performance test by the age of 35, and again by the age of 45;
- 90% of women with pre-cancer lesions treated
The greatest challenge in achieving these ratios lies in low and middle-income countries. Developed countries have the necessary equipment and generally implement the appropriate protocols to carry out the WHO recommendations for cervical cancer elimination. But in resource-poor or hard-to-reach settings, in most cases, it is not possible to meet the goals of vaccination, screening or treatment due to lack of means.
Data confirms the inequality between countries: 90% of the deaths due to cervical cancer in 2018 occurred in low and middle-income countries.
For this reason, PRESCRIP-TEC is focusing its research in a new method that leads to effective and innovative cervical cancer screening, including direct treatment and follow-up for women in resource-poor or hard-to-reach areas of Bangladesh, India, Uganda and Slovakia.
Focusing on the detection of HPV infection and using a novel artificial-intelligence-based screening method that does not require neither expensive or very specialised equipment nor the presence of a gynaecologist, PRESCRIP-TEC aims to increase the adoption of cervical cancer screening in places where it would not otherwise be possible to access to it.
Know more about PRESCRIP-TEC project on this video:
You can also join the Cervical Cancer Elimination Day of Action. Together we can end cervical cancer! #TealTalk
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