Cervical Cancer Programme

Decreasing morbidity and mortality through expanded access to surgical services for the diagnosis and treatment of early-stage cervical cancer.

Facts on cervical cancer

  • Cervical cancer kills more women than pregnancy and childbirth and is the most common cause of cancer death in women in Sub-Saharan Africa.

  • Despite existing interventions to diagnose and treat cervical cancer, every year nearly 600,000 women develop and over 300,000 women die from cervical cancer,

  • If nothing is done, 400,000 women will die due to cervical cancer by 2030.

  • Beyond mortality, cervical cancer is a cause of significant disability, morbidity and stigmatisation for women and accounts for the equivalent of 8.06 million years of healthy life lost due to disability.

  • In low-income countries, cervical cancer is responsible for more than ten percent of economic loss annually. 

The Global Surgery Foundation Cervical Cancer Programme

  • The Global Surgery Foundation Cervical Cancer Programme aims to combat cervical cancer through increasing access to surgical treatment for the disease.

  • Evidence has shown that focusing solely on vaccination efforts will only reduce cervical cancer mortality by 0.1%.

  • Furthermore it is unethical to provide screening without effective treatment options and it is well known that investing in integrated care systems that consider both the screening and treatment of cervical cancer ensures that this investment has the highest impact.

The overall goal if the GSF Cervical Cancer Programme is to “decrease morbidity and mortality through expanded access to surgical services for the diagnosis and treatment of early-stage cervical cancer.” Phase I of this programme focuses on the countries of Zambia and Rwanda for proof of concept and organizational strengthening, while resource mobilization continues for roll-out in other high impact countries for Phase II.

The programme has the following specific objectives:

  1. Development of specific indicators and targets that are contextualized to country specific situation and needs.

  2. Augmenting existing surgical policies to address the cervical cancer burden through policy planning, infrastructure, research, and education.

  3. Working with governments and frontline healthcare workers to increase the capacity in surgical care for cervical cancer in diagnosis and treatment.

  4. Assisting governments and ministries of health in the development of health systems that encompass basic essential surgical care as a pathway to improve access to surgical care among patients with cervical cancer.