Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- The Country Office of the World Health Organization and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) highly appreciate the efforts made by the Uzbek government to prevent and eliminate cervical cancer.

90% of cervical cancers begin with an HPV infection. This infection is curable with early detection and treatment. Regular screening, early diagnosis and timely treatment can cure patients with cervical cancer. Successful implementation of all three of these interventions could reduce new cases by 40% by 2050 and prevent 5 million associated deaths.

“Cervical cancer may be the first cancer ever to be eradicated. By regularly screening women and vaccinating girls against human papillomavirus, we can reduce the incidence of cervical cancer,” said Dr. Lyanne Kuppens, WHO Representative in Uzbekistan.

As part of the WHO Global Initiative to Eliminate Cervical Cancer, the WHO Country Office is implementing a pilot cervical cancer screening program using the human papillomavirus (HPV) test for primary screening and two different triage strategies for HPV-positive women in two regions of Uzbekistan. The program was developed by WHO, the Ministry of Health, UNFPA and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) with partial support from the French Embassy in Uzbekistan.

The incidence and mortality of cervical cancer continues to pose a serious threat to women’s health. Awareness of cervical cancer remains low, especially among rural women, even though it is the second most common cancer among women in Uzbekistan and the third leading cause of cancer death. UNFPA, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization, is implementing an innovative new national cervical cancer screening system based on the HPV testing and treatment program.

Mr. Yu Yu, UNFPA Representative in Uzbekistan, highlighted three important elements that will strengthen the implementation of this project, namely voluntary participation, quality of services offered and access to treatment. He stressed that "larger screening will help identify more patients, which will increase the demand for cancer treatment services, so the readiness of the Ministry of Health is necessary to strengthen capacity to treat patients and meet the growing demand."

The pilot program will target 6,000 women in Chirchik district of Tashkent region and 50,000 women in Karakalpakstan, which will contribute to the development of a national strategy and program for primary screening for cervical cancer in the health care system of Uzbekistan to reduce the incidence of cervical cancer. The objectives of the program are to ensure adequate treatment for precancerous conditions, refer women with invasive cervical cancer to specialist doctors, initiate the development of an electronic register of cervical cancer screening data, and implement a quality assessment and control system.

Since 2019, as part of the national immunization program, a cohort of 9-year-old girls have been vaccinated against the human papillomavirus (HPV). In November 2021, the national immunization program will reach an additional cohort of girls aged 12-13 who will receive the HPV vaccine.