In the Hot Seat with Prof Zacharoula Sidiropoulou: Cervical Cancer Elimination
The Guardian reported a target to protect 86 million girls against cervical cancer by the end of 2025 was achieved ahead of schedule 🎯 raising hopes that cervical cancer can be eliminated within the next century 🔗 https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2025/dec/22/five-big-global-health-wins-in-2025-that-will-save-millions-of-lives
In our first 'In the Hot Seat Interview' of 2026🔥our expert Prof Zacharoula Sidiropoulou, Senior Consultant Oncologist and WHOCC collaborator, discusses whether this elimination is truly feasible or if it is a headline rather than a deliverable outcome. The conversation also addresses why cervical cancer screening remains essential 🔬 for women who have been immunised and how confident the global health community can be in the long-term protection offered by a single-dose HPV vaccination strategy 💉
📜 These questions sit at the heart of the WHO Global Strategy to Accelerate the Elimination of Cervical Cancer 🌎 led in partnership with organisations including the World Health Organization, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and the IARC - International Agency for Research on Cancer 🔗 https://www.who.int/initiatives/cervical-cancer-elimination-initiative
Resources for health professionals 👩⚕️👨⚕️
🖊 Sign the Declaration on Cervical Cancer Elimination 🔗 https://www.cervicalcancerdeclaration.org/
📚 The Geneva Learning Foundation (TGLF) Teach to Reach: Get started with HPV vaccination (and keep it going) course provides practical guidance to support the implementation and sustainability of the HPV vaccination programmes 🔗https://go.learning.foundation/tglf/c/30136
🎥 A recording of the Pan American Health Organization World Cancer Day 2026 Webinar offers further insights and discussion on efforts to support cervical cancer elimination in Latin America and the Caribbean 🔗https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtmu5TC9W6M
Interview by: Shazbah Ahmed, Imperial MPH student and WHOCC Intern
https://www.linkedin.com/in/shazbah-ahmed-86b893235/
https://www.imperial.ac.uk/study/courses/postgraduate-taught/public-health-masters/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/zacharoula-sidiropoulou-2964a013/
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