Towards the global elimination of cervical cancer

Two very effective prevention strategies for cervical cancer exist – vaccination against the human papillomavirus (HPV) and cervical screening with primary HPV testing followed by treatment of precancerous lesions. In 2018, the World Health Organisation called for action towards achieving the global elimination of cervical cancer, and a strategic plan encompassing elimination goals and targets for the scale-up of HPV vaccination, cervical screening and precancer and cancer treatment, particularly in low and middle income countries, will be presented to the 2020 World Health Assembly. The first published estimates suggest that achieving rapid scale-up of both vaccination and twice lifetime cervical screening in all countries would avert up to 13.4 million cervical cancer cases over the next half century, with the majority (but not all) countries achieving incidence of