Cervical cancer 'to be eliminated by 2040 in England' says head of NHS
Cancer charities say it is brilliant news
Last updated 15th Nov 2023
The head of the NHS has pledged that cervical cancer will be wiped out in England by 2040.
Cancer charities are hailing the news calling it brilliant.
Amanda Pritchard will tell the NHS Providers' conference, which is being held in Liverpool, that the combination of giving a vaccine in schools and cervical screening means the disease is on track to be eradicated.
She will say England is one of the first countries in the world to set such an elimination pledge within the next two decades.
Australia expects to be the first country in the world to eliminate the disease by 2035.
It means in England, the NHS will now ramp up its efforts to get more people vaccinated - including in libraries and sports centres - as well as driving up the number of women attending screening.
Leah Holtam, Head of Cancer Insight at Yorkshire Cancer Research, which is based in Harrogate, but offers support to everyone in the region, said: "We think this is really fantastic. Around 250 people in Yorkshire is diagnosed with cervical cancer each year but many more would have cervical cancer prevented, so the fact that we're a couple of decades away from eliminating cervical cancer is just brilliant.
"Most cases of cervical cancers are caused by HPV infection. The vaccine doesn't protect against all types so it's still important to go for screening even if you have had that vaccine before, but that combination of the vaccine and the screening problem is what will get us towards eliminating cervical cancer.
"The test itself is quick. It takes a few minutes and you might be in there for your appointment for 10 minutes but that'll be a bit of chatting to the female doctor or nurse that's doing the test. Tell them if you're worried about anything, if you're worried it's going to hurt and you can also take somebody along to the appointment with you.
"Try and not to be embarrassed or scared. The nurses and doctors that do cervical screenings is what they do day in and day out. There's nothing they won't have seen before. We really do just encourage people to go when they're invited because it could save your life.
"There are hundreds of different cancers and there's so much research that's happening both in the prevention of the cancer and the treatment of it as well. Some cancers I'd say we probably don't know enough yet to understand how they could be prevented."
The human papillomavirus
Human papillomavirus (HPV) refers to a group of viruses which can be transmitted through sexual contact and cause no symptoms.
Around 13 high-risk types of HPV are known to cause 99.7% of cervical cancers.
There is a vaccine for HPV which is given to boys and girls when they are 12 to 13 years old and to people at high risk from HPV.
Since September, children have been receiving a single dose of the jab when they are in Year 8 rather than the two doses given previously.
Latest figures show that, in 2021-2022, some 86.5% of girls have had one dose by Year 10. For boys, the figure is 81.5%.
Under new plans, Ms Pritchard will say health and care staff will be supported to identify people who most need the vaccine, through targeted outreach and offering jabs in places where people study or socialise, such as libraries, community centres, leisure and sport facilities.
The NHS is also working to drive up the number of women attending cervical screening appointments by making sure those who do not attend are sent reminders.
Currently a third of women do not take up their offer.
The NHS is also expanding pilots for self-sampling, where women carry out cervical screening in the comfort of their own homes.
Eliminating cervical cancer "would be an incredible achievement"
Ms Pritchard said it was "truly momentous to be able to set out such an important, life-saving ambition", adding that eliminating cervical cancer "would be an incredible achievement".
She said: "Vaccination and screening are the key tools which mean we are one step closer to achieving this and the NHS is already making it easier than ever before for people to protect themselves and their families - whether it's through community outreach in areas of lower uptake or expanding the NHS app so that everyone has their vaccine history and booking options in the palm of their hand.
"As ever, the public can play their part by coming forward for their vaccines and screening appointments when invited - to achieve our goal of eliminating cervical cancer, we need as many people as possible to take up the offer, so please don't delay, it could save your life."
Eliminating cervical cancer will mean fewer than four in every 100,000 women in the population develop the disease.
Around 2,700 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer in England each year and around 850 women die.
"There must be targeted action to increase vaccination and reduce screening barriers"
Cancer Research UK's head of health and patient information Dr Julie Sharp said: "We support NHS England's target and pledge to save even more lives from cervical cancer.
"Combined with screening, HPV vaccination could reduce cervical cancer to the point where almost no one develops it.
"To ensure everyone has equal access to these life-saving programmes, there must be targeted action to increase HPV vaccination coverage and reduce barriers to cervical screening.
"This ambition will only be possible if the vaccination and screening programmes are backed by sufficient resource and modern IT infrastructure."
A spokesperson for Jo's Cervical Cancer Trust said: "By improving the uptake of both cervical screening and HPV vaccines, we can make cervical cancer a thing of the past."
As well as tackling cervical cancer, the HPV vaccine helps prevent cancers of the head and neck (mouth and throat), and cancers of the anus and genital areas.