Cervical cancer should be “eliminated” from Ireland by 2040, the Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly has said.
On current trends about 300 women are diagnosed with the disease every year, with a fatality rate of almost one third.
According to the World Health Organisation, the “elimination” of cervical cancer would be achieved by reducing diagnosis levels to fewer than four annual cases per 100,000 women. The Department of Health has said such a reduction would mean the condition would no longer be classified as a public health problem.
Irish data modelling, which takes into account HPV (human papillomavirus) vaccination rates, screening and population, shows the country could reach such low levels by 2040.
“We can now say that babies born today will reach adulthood in an Ireland where we expect to have eliminated cervical cancer,” Mr Donnelly said, marking Cervical Cancer Elimination Day of Action, a global initiative.
“HPV vaccination for boys and girls is a game-changer on our road to elimination, and I’m proud that Ireland was one of the first countries to introduce HPV vaccination through the National Immunisation Programme in 2010, as well as being among the first to adopt HPV cervical screening in 2020.”
A new roadmap to ensure the objective is met has been published by the department, and incudes a national public consultation to take place next year. It aims to find “innovative solutions” to reduce health inequalities which can mean some demographic groups suffer greater illness and fatality rates from the disease.
One such innovation due to be considered, according to the department, is self-sampling for HPV, a move found to increase screening participation.
The HSE’s chief clinical officer, Dr Colm Henry, said a high uptake of cervical screening and HPV vaccination programmes were essential in making it a rare disease.
Last October a study found that diagnoses of serious abnormalities in cervical screening had fallen by almost 60 per cent, indicating the positive impact of HPV vaccination. The percentage of cervical screening tests showing serious pre-cancer disease in 25-year-old women fell from 3.7 per cent before the introduction of HPV vaccination to 1.5 per cent afterwards.
