8 facts about bridging the cervical cancer health gap

This article was first published in May 2024 and was updated in October 2024.

In 2022, over a third of a million women around the world died from cervical cancer, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

The vast majority of those deaths (94%) were in low and middle-income countries, as women lacked access to screening and treatment services.

But it’s an entirely preventable disease – and curable, if caught early enough and treated effectively.

The WHO has set targets to eliminate cervical cancer by reducing the number of cases to less than four per 100,000 women by 2030.

The targets include the vaccination of 90% of girls with the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine by the age of 15 years. If left untreated, the sexually transmitted disease causes 95% of cervical cancers.

Here are seven facts that highlight the global disparities in cervical cancer and the efforts needed to bridge this health gap.

Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer in women, the WHO figures show, with an estimated 660,000 new cases in 2022. In the same year, around 350,000 women died from cervical cancer. But the distribution of cases and deaths is far from uniform.

The highest rates of cervical cancer are found in sub-Saharan Africa, Central America and South-East Asia. Cervical cancer accounts for the second-highest numbers of cancer deaths among women in sub-Saharan Africa, and the death rate more than doubled between 1990 and 2019, as the Our World in Data chart below shows.

In Kenya, cervical cancer is the leading cause of cancer mortality, accounting for 3,591 deaths in 2022 – 12% of all cancer deaths in the country – according to the WHO Global Cancer Observatory.

In the same year, cervical cancer in the US accounted for just 0.98% of all cancer deaths. In the UK, that dropped to just 0.64% of cancer deaths.

An analysis of WHO data in the Lancet found a “clear socioeconomic gradient exists”. Countries with a higher Human Development Index (HDI) score have lower rates of cervical cancer. It found that countries with a low HDI had triple the number of cases of cervical cancer and mortality rates were six times higher than those with a very high HDI.

A link has also been found between gender inequality and cervical cancer, with a 2012 study finding the risk of death from cervical cancer was higher in those countries scoring lower on the UN’s Global Inequality Index. The WHO says gender biases can play a role in the incidence of cervical cancer.

Screening is a critical preventive measure for cervical cancer, yet many women face significant barriers to accessing these services.

Screening rates vary widely around the world. As the World Economic Forum’s Closing the Women’s Health Gap report showed, around a third (36%) of women worldwide have been screened for cervical cancer in their lifetime. That rises to 84% in high-income countries – but is less than 20% in lower-middle-income and low-income countries.

The WHO has set a target of 70% of women being screened with a high-performance test by the age of 35 and again by 45, by 2030.

A 2022 study in the US surveyed 710 low-income, uninsured or publicly insured women aged 25-64 years, who were not up to date on cervical cancer screening according to national guidelines. It found that more than half of all groups surveyed (61%) reported five or more barriers to receiving screening. Common barriers include lack of insurance, cost and lack of provider recommendation.

Preventive interventions such as screening and HPV vaccination have shown to be effective in reducing cervical cancer incidence and mortality.

High-income countries with well-developed population-based screening and treatment services, such as Sweden, Australia and the UK, have seen stable and relatively low incidence rates since around 2005, the Lancet analysis showed.

In May 2024, figures for England showed the roll-out of the HPV vaccine among girls aged 12-13 from 2008 had cut cases by 90%.

Nigeria’s state of Kwara has announced a vaccination programme for more than 300,000 girls aged between 9 and 14, according to the country’s news agency. In 2022, cervical cancer was the second-biggest cancer among women and accounted for 8.9% of Nigeria’s cancer deaths.

Eliminating cervical cancer by 2030 and addressing global disparities requires a multifaceted approach that includes improving socioeconomic conditions and enhancing access to preventive health services, through greater funding and promoting gender equality.

The World Economic Forum’s Global Alliance for Women’s Health has launched a Cervical and Breast Cancer Coalition, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health Kenya to speed progress to detection, treatment and care.

Launched on the sidelines of the World Health Assembly, the coalition is a platform that will respond to Kenya’s needs and challenges and expand efforts to collaborate with other ministries and countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

In October 2024, researchers announced the biggest breakthrough in cervical cancer treatment for two decades – in a trial conducted at 32 medical centres in Brazil, India, Italy, Mexico and the UK.

Results from the INTERLACE trial showed that giving cervical cancer patients a short course of chemotherapy before starting the standard treatment reduced the risk of death 40%.

It also reduced the risk of cervical cancer returning or growing again after responding to treatment by 35%.

The two chemotherapy drugs used for the induction treatment are cheap, easily accessible and already approved for use, so they could become a new standard of care relatively quickly, according to charity Cancer Research UK, which funded the research.

“This is the biggest improvement in outcome in this disease in over 20 years,” said Dr Mary McCormack, the lead investigator. “I’m incredibly proud of all the patients who participated in the trial; their contribution has allowed us to gather the evidence needed to improve treatment of cervical cancer patients everywhere.”