World Cancer Day is commemorated today, the Pan American Health Organization says it is striving to accelerate prevention and control efforts to create a future without cervical cancer, which is the third most common cancer among women in Latin America and the Caribbean, but one that can be prevented.

Every year more then 56,000 women in the Caribbean and latin America are diagnosed with cervical cancer, about 28,000 die from it. These figures rise to 72,000 diagnoses and 34,000 deaths when the United States and Canada are included.

Cervical cancer can be prevented through vaccination against human papillomavirus. Vaccines that protect against the common types of HPV that cause cancer have been available for over a decade. The health organization recommends administering this vaccine to girls aged 9 to 14 years.

vaccinations, screenings and treatment of precancerous lesions can prevent new cases and deaths. Over time, cervical cancer can be eliminated as a public health problem.

The HPV vaccine is available in 35 countries and territories of the region of the Americas. However, in most countries, the HPV vaccine coverage rate with the two recommended doses still falls short of the target of at least 80 per cent of girls. Furthermore, there are gaps in access to services for screening and treatment of precancerous lesions, and screening coverage rates are lower than the target of at least 70 per cent of women aged 30-49 years. It is estimated that at least 32 million women need to be screened for cervical cancer in the Region.

To raise public awareness about the disease, last November the pan American health organization  launched the communication campaign “It is time to end cervical cancer.” Under the slogan “Don’t let cervical cancer stop you,” the initiative provides information on HPV vaccines and calls on women to have regular examinations to detect precancerous lesions. The campaign responds to the plan to reduce new cervical cancer cases and deaths in the region by a third by 2030, as agreed by the region’s Ministers of Health at the organizations Directing Council meeting in 2018.

World Cancer Day, coordinated by the Union for International Cancer control on February 4th every year is an opportunity to unite the entire world in the fight against cancer.