From the Latin American and Caribbean Society of Medical Oncology, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Author's disclosure of potential conflicts of interest are found at the end of this article.
Address reprint requests to Eduardo Cazap, MD, PhD, President, Latin American and Caribbean Society of Medical Oncology, Av. Cordoba 2415, 5th Floor, C1120AAG Buenos Aires, Argentina; e-mail: ecazap{at}slacom.org
Overview: The world is facing a critical health care problem: in the coming decades, cancer will become the most important global public health problem. Worldwide mortality from cervical cancer is close to 270,000 women each year, with nearly 85% of those deaths occurring in the developing world.
In Europe and the United States, a woman has a 70% chance of surviving cervical cancer, whereas it is only 58% in Thailand, 42% in India, and 21% in sub-Saharan Africa. In low-resource countries, only 41% of women with cervical cancer have access to appropriate treatment. Many head and neck, anal, and genital cancers are caused by the same types of genital human papillomavirus that cause cervical cancer. However, the situation could be greatly improved if we only applied what is known about these cancers today. All the necessary scientific knowledge to control cervical cancer around the world exists today; there is a vaccine for primary prevention, useful and efficient methods for secondary prevention, and adequate treatment modalities, especially for early stages of the disease. But, regrettably, all these resources are only available to less than 15% of the world population, a population that is generally not the usual target for this disease. Evidence-based action can control cervical cancer to create a new reality for all women everywhere. All individuals, organizations, and countries need to recognize the death and suffering caused by human papillomavirus-related diseases and work together to achieve worldwide cancer control by ensuring equitable access to health resources for all.
