Australia To Be First To Eradicate Cervical Cancer

Australia currently has a free HPV vaccine that is responsible for the dramatic decline in cervical cancer rates and under the new program Australian women aged 25-74 are asked to take the test every five years in an attempt to reduce cervical cancer rates. Combining these regular screenings and a more advanced test, Australia is set to have no new cases in 10-20 years. However, currently two thirds of the world’s population of women are not able to access cervical cancer prevention like Australian women do. Therefore, the question lies what needs to be put in place to achieve global eradication of cervical cancer? We spoke to Clinical Associate Professor Deborah Bateson Medical Director at Family Planning NSW to answer our questions.