Cervical Cancer - The Silent Epidemic: Know it, Prevent it

Abstract

Cervical cancer remains a significant women’s health challenge in Pakistan, with an upward trend illustrating over 6000 new cases diagnosed annually. This burden disproportionately affects women in their most productive years, resulting in substantial mortality and socio-economic consequences. The global incidence shows a downward trend, with cervical cancer cases declining due to widespread Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination and effective screening programmes. However, in Pakistan, there is an urgent need to scale up HPV vaccination as the current efforts are hampered by low vaccine coverage and contextual barriers. The primary obstacles to vaccine uptake include economic constraints, misinformation and logistics challenges. Emerging opportunity is a newly launched national vaccination campaign supported by the WHO, UNICEF and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. We argue that the campaign’s success hinges on robust community engagement, dispelling cultural misconceptions, and integrating vaccination into a comprehensive cervical cancer control strategy that includes screening and treatment. Strong political commitment, sustained funding, and multi-stakeholder collaboration are essential to transform this preventable tragedy into a women’s health success story.