By Cirũ Kariũki.
A three-year campaign to bring vaccines against human papillomavirus (HPV) to low-income countries has prevented 1.4 million cervical cancer deaths, the vaccine alliance Gavi said Monday.
“Every two minutes, a woman dies from cervical cancer – a disease that is both devastating and largely preventable,” said Dr Sania Nishtar, CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.
“In 2023, Gavi, in partnership with countries across the world, launched an ambitious campaign to protect 86 million girls against the primary cause of cervical cancer and prevent more than a million deaths. Thanks to incredible commitment from countries, partners, civil society, and communities, we have now reached that target ahead of schedule. This collaborative effort is driving major global progress towards eliminating one of the deadliest diseases affecting women.”
Cervical cancer strikes hardest in lower-income countries, which often lack screening services and equitable access to treatment. As a result, these countries account for 90% of the 350,000 deaths from cervical cancer recorded in 2022. Yet a safe and effective vaccine exists. The HPV vaccine – which protects against the human papillomavirus, the primary cause of cervical cancer – is highly effective, averting 17.4 deaths for every 1,000 children vaccinated.
Overcoming barriers to save lives
This ambitious push was enabled by the Alliance’s relentless focus on affordable access and overcoming barriers. By applying its market-shaping expertise to lower the cost of vaccines while driving up supply by offering manufacturers guaranteed volumes, Gavi secured commitments from manufacturers to invest in HPV vaccines – and the price of HPV vaccines in Gavi-supported countries is now between US$2.90 and US$5.18 per dose, compared with US$100 or more elsewhere.
Gavi and partners also spent years working with countries to prioritise vaccination against cervical cancer and to plan for large-scale immunisation activities once sufficient supply was available. Partners also invested in data on how to effectively reach adolescent girls and critical vaccine efficacy studies. In 2022, the World Health Organization was able to officially recommend a single-dose HPV vaccine schedule (compared to two doses previously), enabling countries to reach twice as many girls with existing supply.
Next steps
Building on the momentum of this large global effort, Gavi’s support will enable up to seven more countries to integrate the HPV vaccine into their national immunisation programmes in the coming months.
This week, large-scale campaigns in Sierra Leone and Liberia are expanding protection to girls up to 18 years old, reaching those who previously missed out and advancing the global effort to ensure equitable access to vaccines and eliminate cervical cancer as a public health threat.