17 November 2025 marked the first World Cervical Cancer Elimination Day – mandated by the World Health Assembly – a historic milestone in global efforts to end a preventable cancer. This day of action builds on powerful momentum, with countries and partners uniting to launch ambitious vaccination campaigns, expand screening and treatment services, and accelerate progress toward eliminating cervical cancer as a public health problem.
The annual commemoration highlights a critical opportunity: cervical cancer – the fourth most common cancer in women – claims over 350 000 lives each year, yet it is a disease that we have the tools to eliminate.
The Day supports the core pillars of the WHO’s global elimination strategy: vaccinating 90% of girls against human papillomavirus (HPV), screening 70% of women, and treating 90% of those with pre-cancer and invasive cancer. It serves as a critical platform to strengthen advocacy, accelerate service delivery, and mobilize resources to ensure every woman and girl has access to life-saving care.
"In 2018, I was proud to launch the global call to action on cervical cancer elimination, and I'm even prouder now to see what was once a distant dream becoming a reality," said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. "More and more countries are scaling up HPV vaccination, improving screening, and expanding treatment, bringing us closer to a future free of cervical cancer."
This momentum is underscored by the announcement from Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and its partners, who estimate that the ambitious goal to reach 86 million girls by the end of 2025 has been met, reflecting a broader wave of country action to advance national elimination plans and expand access to screening and treatment.
Countries are marking World Cervical Cancer Elimination Day with a wave of actions on multiple fronts. In some countries vaccination is scaling up through campaigns, screening efforts are intensifying, with promotion of self-sampling HPV testing, a key innovation for expanding screening access.
This past year has seen significant country-level action, providing a powerful foundation for the new annual commemoration.
- Across WHO Western Pacific Region, Unitaid and WHO have expanded their partnership to strengthen cervical cancer prevention and treatment programmes, supporting equitable access to screening and treatment services for precancer.
Countries worldwide are accelerating efforts to expand access to HPV vaccination, screening, and treatment, advancing toward the 90-70-90 targets of the Global Strategy. - World Health Organisation (WHO)
