Global Call to STOP Cervical Cancer

An initiative launched Friday 6th of July, in Nairobi, Kenya at the YWCA's International Women's Summit: Women's Leadership Making a Difference on HIV and AIDS.

Cervical cancer, caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV), strikes more than 500,000 women every year and causes more than a quarter million deaths annually. Approximately 80% of these deaths occur in developing countries, making cervical cancer the most common cause of cancer-related death for women in the developing world. Women face an even greater risk for cervical cancer if they are HIV positive because HIV positive women are four-times more likely to develop the pre-cancerous lesions that lead to cervical cancer than HIV-negative women.

With new HPV vaccines and diagnostics hitting the market, it is a moral imperative for women and girls around the world have access as early as possible. Everyone has a role to play, and so we are calling upon governments, multilaterals, donors, medical professionals, industry and civil society to contribute.

With funding from the Rockefeller Foundation (RF) and PATH, Global Health Strategies helped pull together the 13-member strategic advisory committee that drafted the Call and now serves as acting Secretariat. In addition to the RF, PATH, and the YWCA, we are joined in our mission to end cervical cancer by The International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), The International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO), Family Care International, JHPIEGO, the American Cancer Society, The AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition (AVAC), The International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI), the Medical Women's International Association (MWIA), and the International Union Against Cancer (UICC), and Sociedad Latinoamericana y del Caribe de Oncologia Medica (SLACOM).

We believe that this Call to Action must be heard, and we hope you can help us reach more people by including this information on your website and on appropriate materials. To that end, you can find copies of this morning's press release and the Call attached to this message. You can get further details and endorse the Call at www.cervicalcanceraction.org

Feel free to contact Urvesh Shelat should you need any additional information at:
Global Health Strategies
27 West 24th Street, Suite 900
New York, NY 10010 USA
Tel +1 212 929 7888
Fax +1 212 929 1447

email: ushelat@ghstrat.com