Experts Call for Global Delivery of Proven Technologies to Stop Cervical Cancer in World's Poorest Countries

Immediate Action to Prevent Cervical Cancer Deaths is Key to Achieving Women's Health Goals

WASHINGTON, June 8, 2010 - Women's health leaders today called on the international community to
commit the resources needed to ensure that women and girls worldwide have
equal access to cervical cancer prevention technologies. At the WOMEN DELIVER
conference, the Declaration for Universal Access to Cervical Cancer
Prevention was issued by leading women's health, cancer and business
organizations, including PATH, the International Planned Parenthood
Federation and the International Union Against Cancer.

"Today with the development of new tools and strategies, we have an
unprecedented opportunity to prevent and treat cervical cancer through a
comprehensive response in low-resource settings," said Chris Elias, President
and CEO of PATH. "There is strong scientific evidence of the safety of HPV
vaccines, accuracy of HPV testing and effectiveness of same day screen-and
treat approaches. We have the tools we need; now we need the funding and
political will to deliver them to the women around the world."

Cervical cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death among women
in developing countries. Despite being preventable and treatable, the disease
continues to kill more than 270,000 women every year, the vast majority of
whom live in low-resource settings where there is limited access to screening
and treatment technologies. A comprehensive response to cervical cancer could
employ available prevention and screening tools such as HPV testing,
vaccines, pap testing and visual inspection with acetic acid.

"It is a global failure that women in developing countries continue to
suffer due to poor access to new and available prevention tools," said Dr.
Lynette Denny, Principal Investigator with the Department of Gynecology and
Oncology at the University of Cape Town in South Africa. "The world will not
be able to meet its goals to improve women's health and development without
addressing the growing cervical cancer burden. We hope this Declaration
galvanizes all sectors to work together to deliver prevention and treatment
technologies to women worldwide."

Read the full Declaration here:

Today we have the unprecedented opportunity to give women and girls
worldwide an equal chance at healthy and productive lives, free from cervical
cancer. We have made significant progress in the development of cervical
cancer prevention tools and there is a growing body of scientific evidence
supporting their use.

We call for swift action by the international community — governments,
NGOs, multilaterals, and industry — to provide financial and political
commitments and to collaborate across sectors to ensure that women and girls
worldwide have access to comprehensive cervical cancer prevention that
includes screening, treatment and vaccination.

    - Each year, cervical cancer -- which is caused by high-risk types of the
      human papillomavirus -- kills more than 270,000 women globally. About
      88 percent of these deaths occur in developing countries, where limited
      access to screening and treatment has made cervical cancer the most
      common cancer-related cause of death among women.

    - Mounting scientific evidence has proven the safety and efficacy of HPV
      vaccines and the accuracy of molecular HPV testing in both
      industrialized and developing countries, further validating their
      global use.

    - New HPV screening technologies, WHO prequalification of HPV vaccines
      and single visit screen-and-treat approaches -- including visual
      inspection with acetic acid followed by cryotherapy -- now make it
      possible to implement comprehensive cervical cancer prevention
      strategies in low-resource settings, giving hope to women across the
      globe.

    - At current rates it is estimated that, by 2015, deaths from cervical
      cancer could exceed 320,000 each year. This would prevent the full
      realization of UN Millennium Development Goal Five to improve maternal
      health and achieve universal access to reproductive health.

    - Cervical cancer is central to the emerging cancer pandemic in low and
      middle income countries. The number of lives lost to this preventable
      disease is a global failure of the largest scale; it is our moral
      imperative to make certain that all women and girls have a fair chance
      at full and healthy lives.

At this historic WOMEN DELIVER conference, thousands of leaders from
around the globe are mobilizing action to focus on proven solutions to
improve the health and development of women and girls. We call on these same
leaders to commit attention and resources to cervical cancer. This disease is
inextricably linked to maternal and reproductive health agendas. We cannot
achieve broader women's health goals unless we prioritize the global
prevention of this disease.

Signatories:

    American Cancer Society
    www.cancer.org

    Cervical Cancer Action
    www.cervicalcanceraction.org

    EngenderHealth
    www.engenderhealth.org

    Global Summit of Women
    www.globewomen.org

    Secretariat. Global Task Force on Expanded Access to Cancer Care and
    Control in Developing Countries.
    www.hgei.harvard.edu

    International Federation of Gynecology & Obstetrics
    www.figo.org

    International  Planned Parenthood Federatio
    www.ippf.org

    International Union Against Cancer
    www.uicc.org

    Jhpiego
    www.jhpiego.jhu.edu

    PATH
    www.path.org

    WOMEN DELIVER
    www.womendeliver.org

Vanita Gowda, WOMEN DELIVER, +1-646-932-5905, vgowda at globalhealthstrategies.com