The Optimist Daily · 7 hours ago

Australia Is on Track to Eliminate a Form of Cancer Entirely | the Optimist Daily

For the first time in history, a country is within reach of eliminating an entire form of cancer. Through a national HPV vaccination program launched in 2006 and a rebuilt screening system that now allows women to collect their own samples, Australia has cut cervical cancer incidence and mortality rates in half since 1982 - in 2021, no cases were diagnosed in women under 25. "It's the first time that the WHO, and globally, we've said we're going to eliminate a cancer," says Professor Karen Canfell, the epidemiologist whose modeling charted the path forward. Yet the progress remains uneven: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women face rates twice the national average, and with international aid cuts threatening global vaccination efforts, the story reveals both what coordinated public health can accomplish and how much still depends on who has access to it.