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, the pathogen responsible for 99% of cervical cancers.
Nobel Prizes have been won, fortunes made, and millions of lives saved from Henrietta Lacks’s 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 almost completely preventable and, if diagnosed early enough, is one of the most successfully treatable cancers.
This disease claims the lives of 300 thousand women each year – 1 every 2 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 prices and inadequate supply
In low- and middle-income countries, the incidence of cervical cancer is nearly twice as high, and the death rate is three times as high, as in high-income countries.
We see similar disparities among marginalized populations within many high-income countries.
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 years:
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.
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 organizations 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.
[646 words]
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. You have the floor.
[H.E. JEANNETTE KAGAME ADDRESSES THE MEDIA]
Thank you, Your Excellency.
It’s now my honour
to introduce Dr T
shepo Ramaphosa, First Lady of the Republic of South Africa. Dr Ramaphosa, thank you for joining us, you have the floor.
[H.E. TSHEPO RAMAPHOSA ADDRESSES THE MEDIA]
Thank you, Your Excellency.
It’s now my honour to welcome Her Excellency Sika Kabore, the First Lady of the Republic of Burkina Faso, who sent us this video message.
[H.E. ADJOAVI SIKA KABORE ADDRESSES THE MEDIA BY VIDEO MESSAGE]
Merci beaucoup, Your Excellency.
I’m now delighted to welcome Her Excellency Neo Jane Masisi, the First Lady of Botswana, who also sent us the following video message.
[H.E. NEO JANE MASISI ADDRESSES THE MEDIA BY VIDEO MESSAGE]
Thank you, Your Excellency. And thank you to 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.
[THE HON GREG HUNT ADDRESSES THE MEDIA]
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. You have the floor.
[KAREN NAKAWALA ADDRESSES THE MEDIA]
Thank you Karen.
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.