Cervical Cancer Elimination 90-70-90: Where India Could Accelerate

Topic: Public health strategy

Imagine a world where cervical cancer is a “rare disease.” That is the goal of the WHO Elimination Strategy, launched to wipe out a cancer that kills one woman every two minutes globally.

The targets for 2030 are simple to say but hard to do: 90-70-90.

The Targets

1. 90% of girls fully vaccinated with the HPV vaccine by age 15.
2. 70% of women screened with a high-performance test (like HPV DNA) by 35 and again by 45.
3. 90% of women with pre-cancer or cancer receiving treatment.

India’s Scorecard

The 90% (Vaccination)

• Current Status: Very low (<5%).
• The Hope: The launch of indigenous CERVAVAC and the government’s plan to integrate it into the immunization drive (U-WIN) gives us a fighting chance to rocket this number up in the next 5 years.

The 70% (Screening)

• Current Status: <10%. Most women only get checked if they have symptoms.
• The Challenge: The current standard is “VIA” (Visual Inspection with Acetic Acid) in rural areas and Pap Smears in cities.
• The Accelerator: Switching to HPV DNA Testing. It is more accurate and can be done every 5-10 years instead of every 3. Self-sampling kits (where women take their own swab at home) could revolutionize this.

The 90% (Treatment)

• Current Status: Mixed. Urban centers have world-class oncology. Rural access remains a gap.
• The Accelerator: Treating “pre-cancer” (CIN lesions) is cheap and easy (Thermal Ablation). We need to empower nurses to do this at the primary level.

We have the tools. We just need the will.