Webinar in commemoration of the World Cervical Cancer Elimination Day- 17 November 2025

Background and Rationale

Cervical cancer presents a major public health challenge, particularly in the WHO South-East Asia Region which accounts for about one-fourth of the global burden. An estimated 160,000 new cases and 100,000 deaths of cervical cancer occurred in the region in 2022.

To combat this preventable and treatable cancer, WHO spearheaded Cervical Cancer Elimination Initiative (CCEI) leading to the World Health Assembly in 2020 adopting the Global strategy to accelerate elimination of cervical cancer as a public health problem, the first time a cancer was put into elimination agenda. The initiative has set interim targets for elimination to be achieved by 2030, whereby each Member States are expected to vaccinate 90% of girls with the HPV vaccine by the age of 15; screen 70% of women by the age of 35, and again by the age of 45; and treat 90% of women with pre-cancer and invasive cancer. The initiative has brought together governments, UN agencies, partners, civil society and all other stakeholders together into a concerted effort to achieve the interim targets of elimination.

Aligned to the global initiative, the Region is guided by the Regional implementation framework on eliminating cervical cancer as a public health problem 2021–2030 and the WHO South-East Asia Regional Strategy for comprehensive cancer prevention and management 2024–2030. In the past few years, countries in the Region have made significant strides towards eliminating cervical cancer. However, there are persistent challenges specifically on the fronts of coverage of HPV vaccination and cervical screening and access to quality treatment. Thus, more efforts are required from governments and all other stakeholders in order to meet the interim targets and realize the goal of elimination.

In 2025, World Health Assembly adopted a resolution to observe 17^th November as World Cervical Cancer Elimination Day to further stimulate and sustain global efforts towards cervical cancer elimination and urged to commemorate the day every year to support and highlight Member States’ efforts to accelerate the elimination.

Thus, to meet this mandate, the WHO Regional Office for South-East Asia is organizing this webinar among Program managers, clinicians, academicians, civil society organizations, advocates in the region.

Objectives:

• To share the successful efforts in the countries that are aligned to the cervical cancer elimination initiative.
• To discuss the next steps in advancing and accelerating the implementation of the global strategy and regional implementation framework for elimination of cervical cancer as public health problem.

Please register in advance for this webinar in this link. Registration requires less than one minute.