Roche survey reveals global ignorance of HPV-cervical cancer link
8 Oct 2024
Around one in two respondents to a multi-country survey had little or no knowledge of the role of HPV in cervical cancer, despite its significance in most reported cases.
Research by GWI, commissioned by pharmaceutical giant Roche, polled nearly 9,000 individuals in 12 countries within Europe and Latin America.
It revealed half of those responding had “inadequate” understanding of HPV (human papillomavirus), while nearly one in three were altogether unsure or unaware of it.
The virus is transmitted through sexual contact and is responsible for over 99% of cervical cancer cases, noted Roche. Of more than 0.6 million women worldwide diagnosed with cervical cancer, more than 340,000 die annually.
While screening and vaccination can counter many cervical cancers, lack of resources, fear or lack of awareness all contribute obstacles to improving mortality rates.
Thousands of women are needlessly dying from cervical cancer every year. This survey highlights some of the most important barriers to screening, as well as the opportunities we have to prevent disease and improve women’s health
Joanna Sickler, vice-president, Health Policy and External Affairs, Roche Diagnostice
Survey results showed that nearly two thirds of respondents in some countries expected testing procedures to be painful, while nearly as many admitted they were uncomfortable discussing sexual details with medical professionals.
Evidence suggests more than half of new cervical cancers involved women never previously screened or who had last been screened more than five years previously.
“Thousands of women are needlessly dying from cervical cancer every year. This survey highlights some of the most important barriers to screening, as well as the opportunities we have to prevent disease and improve women’s health,” said Joanna Sickler, vice-president, Health Policy and External Affairs at Roche Diagnostics.
“With many women reporting being open to new screening tools like self-collection, it has never been more important that communities, health systems, governments and innovators come together to seize this opportunity, and provide the early detection and treatment needed to avoid so many preventable deaths.”
The World Health Organisation’s strategy seeks to ensure by the end of the decade that 90% of girls worldwide are vaccinated by 15 years old, plus 70% of women screened by high performance testing at 35 and 45. It claims that, combined with widespread HPV vaccination, this could prevent more than 60 million deaths over the next century.
