Abstract
For the first time, the World Health Organization (WHO) has set an ambitious goal to eliminate a cancer as a public health problem. Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ) committed to this goal in 2020. Four years on, NZ has made some great strides but is still far from meeting the 2030 targets required to put us on the path to elimination.
Elimination is possible because almost all cases of cervical cancer are caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV). We have the tools now to prevent cervical cancer through HPV vaccination, HPV primary screening and treatment of abnormal cervical cell changes. If all women and people with a cervix can access these three things, cervical cancer will be eliminated in NZ within the lifetime of today’s children.
NGOs, researchers and the public are calling on the Government to take action now to set us on the path to eliminate cervical cancer and help create a future where almost no one in NZ dies from this now preventable cancer.