United Nations children’s agency UNICEF, World Bank, and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation have together committed nearly $600 million funding for vaccination, screening and treatment of cervical cancer.
The funding constitutes of $400 million from World Bank over the next three years, $180 million from Gates Foundation, and $10 million from the UN agency.
The announcement was made at the Global Cervical Cancer Elimination Forum, which mainly aims to mobilize governments, donors, civil society, and various stakeholders to pledge their commitment to combat cervical cancer.
According to the World Health Organization, a woman succumbs to cervical cancer every two minutes globally, which could be prevented by proper vaccination against human papillomavirus or HPV, the primary cause of cervical cancer, combined with regular screening and proper treatment.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general, stated, “We have the knowledge and the tools to make cervical cancer history, but vaccination, screening and treatment programs are still not reaching the scale required. This first global forum is an important opportunity for governments and partners to invest in the global elimination strategy and addressing the inequities that deny women and girls access to the life-saving tools they need”.
In 2022, the global health agency advised countries to transition from a two or three-dose vaccination to one-dose to protect more girls against cervical cancer, touted as the fourth most prevalent cancer among women worldwide.
The forum, held in Colombia, saw similar commitments from Democratic Republic of Congo and Nigeria regarding introduction of one-dose vaccines. Indonesia re-committed to its National Action Plan 2023 to end cervical cancer, while Ethiopia pledged to conduct an extensive vaccination drive in 2024.
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