Imagine if we could eliminate cervical cancer.
For one expert, it's an achievable goal that could be reached within a matter of years.
Key points:
- The federal government is backing a pledge it made to the World Health Organization
- New funding will focus on removing cultural and social barriers that prevent women from accessing treatment
- Cervical cancer is avoidable with regular screening
"We've got a chance to get rid of a cancer completely; first time ever," says Ian Frazer, a professor of immunology from the University of Queensland.
"And here we have a vaccine and a means of doing it. It's really important that we do this."
Professor Frazer was instrumental in the development of Gardasil, a vaccine used to protect against strains of Human Papillomavirus (HPV), the virus responsible for nearly all cervical cancers.
Eliminating cervical cancer
That vaccine is one of three tools needed to eliminate the disease, the second is increased cervical screening, and the third is to ensure people have adequate treatment options if they do happen to develop the virus.
Today, the federal government has announced it will invest $5.8 million to back a pledge it made to the World Health Organization (WHO) a year ago, to become the first country in the world to eliminate the disease.
"The funding announced today will support the Australian Centre for the Prevention of Cervical Cancer to collaboratively develop a National Cervical Cancer Elimination Strategy by the end of 2022 to help us ensure our goal of eliminating cervical cancer as a public health concern is met by 2035," the Health Minister Greg Hunt said.
The centre's executive director, Professor Marion Saville, said part of the strategy would focus on ways to break down cultural and social barriers that prevent women from accessing traditional cervical cancer prevention programs.
Less invasive screenings to break barriers
One way of doing that is to make cervical screening less invasive.
From July 1 next year, anyone with a cervix will be offered a self-collection kit. The kits are already available for certain women over the age of 30. They allow a patient to take their own cervical swab, under the direction of a doctor or nurse. Traditionally, those tests are conducted by a healthcare professional.
The tests were first introduced in Australia in 2017, as part of an overhaul of the national screening program. But, uptake of the self-collection kits has not been as strong as many had hoped.
According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, between 2002 and 2012, the majority of women diagnosed with cervical cancer had either never been screened for the disease or were lapsed screeners.
That's disappointing to Professor Frazer.
"The challenge is to get women to take part in the screening program and if we can make it easier for them and less painful or even just emotionally less difficult, then yes, obviously that will help with the screening program work really well," he said.
The tests screen for human papillomavirus (HPV), which is the cause of about 90 per cent of all cervical cancers. Routine screening is available through Medicare every five years for anyone with a cervix aged between 25 and 74 years.
The government will also use the money to support Australia's largest clinical trial, known as Compass, which examines the interactions between the HPV vaccine and HPV screening.
The trial has over 76,000 participants and information from it will then be used to improve the National Cervical Screening Program.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiY2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvbmV3cy8yMDIxLTExLTE3L2NlcnZpY2FsLWNhbmNlci1hdXN0cmFsaWEtZmVkZXJhbC1nb3Z0LWVsaW1pbmF0aW9uLzEwMDYyNTYzMNIBKGh0dHBzOi8vYW1wLmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvYXJ0aWNsZS8xMDA2MjU2MzA?oc=5
2021-11-16 22:02:20Z
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