| Save the date: 17 November
Launch of the strategy to eliminate cervical cancer  On 17 November 2020, following the close of the 73rd World Health Assembly, WHO will formally launch the Global Strategy to Accelerate the Elimination of Cervical Cancer. This virtual event will mark a world-first commitment to the elimination of a cancer. The launch should reflect a day of action, with events held across the globe – from Chile, India and Kenya to the Netherlands, Nigeria and Zambia, among other countries. We encourage all people, in all places, to get involved! Join us on this historic day by organizing events within your own communities: this could mean starting cervical screening campaigns, viewing the launch together at virtual watch parties, hosting local discussions and forming support groups, or other cervical cancer awareness activities. Events and activities can be small- or large-scale, local or regional. Let us know how you plan to celebrate by contacting cxca@who.int. We want to showcase how the world is coming together with the shared goal of cervical cancer elimination. Celebrate with us on social media by tagging #CervicalCancerFreeFuture and sharing what a cervical cancer-free world means to you. You can also update your profile photo with our frame that is available here on Facebook. Let’s light up the world in teal for cervical cancer elimination!  On 17 November, to celebrate the launch, iconic monuments around the world will light up in teal for cervical cancer elimination. Please join the effort to illuminate the cause! Request that your local landmarks be lit in teal on 17 November – let us know about it and share your pictures, so we can showcase this visual display of worldwide unity during the launch event and in the days that follow. For more materials and help on how to make a lighting request, please read here. Thank you for continuing to be part of this global movement united in eliminating cervical cancer. Let’s continue working together to leave behind a great legacy, so those born today will experience a future free of this disease. I invite you to follow me on Twitter @DrNonoSimelela to keep up with our progress. Please share this newsletter with friends and colleagues who are interested in learning more about our work – and in making a difference in the fight against cervical cancer. They can sign up to receive monthly updates here. Thank you, Dr Nono Simelela
Assistant Director-General
Special Adviser to the Director-General on Strategic Programmatic Priorities Advocate spotlight: Zambia’s Teal Sisters  Karen Nakawala started Teal Sisters in January 2020 as a patient support group on Facebook after having undergone treatment for cervical cancer herself. “In my journey, I came across women who either didn’t know about the existence [of cervical cancer] or had very little knowledge about the disease – especially women from rural parts of the country,” she says. In less than a week, the group grew to more than 80 000 members. “This only confirmed the need to have more conversations around cervical cancer if we are to reduce the high rate of infection and deaths,” adds Nakawala. With the primary aim of raising awareness of cervical cancer in Zambia, Nakawala registered Teal Sisters as a civil society organization in March. The Teal Sisters Facebook group currently has over 136 000 members and continues to provide hope and support to those affected by cervical cancer. “The page is very active. More women are going for screening and posting about their experience on a daily basis,” Nakawala says. “Cultural beliefs have played a role in the low numbers of women accessing screening, especially in peri-urban and rural areas of Zambia. There is also a stigma associated with cervical cancer and other gynaecological conditions. Teal Sisters hopes to change the narrative by aggressively addressing all these issues.” “I feel that it is not right for women to die from a cancer that is preventable. We must focus our energies and attention on HPV vaccinations in young girls, prevention, screening and early detection if we are to eliminate cervical cancer as a health problem because when you lose one woman, the spiral effect is felt by many. We are the glue that holds families and communities together.”#WeCancervive Spotlight: Companion Launch Event - Health Journalism in India with the Cancer Foundation of India, Harvard, and the American Cancer Society As the world prepares to witness the landmark announcement of the Elimination Strategy for Cervical Cancer on 17 November, the Cancer Foundation of India, in association with Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health (India Research Centre), SANCHAR and the American Cancer Society, is organising a companion virtual event for Indian journalists engaged in health reporting. The event will be a panel discussion with some of the foremost experts in India, who will present this WHO strategy and the way forward to achieve the goal of reducing cervical cancer deaths by 2030. The panelists will include Professor Maqsood Siddiqi, Founder Chairman, Cancer Foundation of India, Dr Rengaswamy Sankaranarayanan, Senior visiting scientist, International Agency for Research on Cancer (WHO), Professor Dr Neerja Bhatla, Unit Head, Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi and Dr Bakul Parekh, President, Indian Academy of Pediatrics. With over 96 000 new cases of cervical cancer diagnosed in India every year, it is time to implement this comprehensive elimination strategy and prevent premature deaths. For more information, email cfi.cancer@gmail.com. HPV Prevention Week in Canada Canada observed its fourth annual HPV Prevention Week from 5 to 11 October 2020, to raise awareness for the prevention of HPV and its associated cancers. Organized by the Federation of Medical Women of Canada in collaboration with its partner organizations, the event included a series of lunch-and-learn seminars. Dr. Gina Ogilvie, a member of the WHO Director-General’s Expert Group on Cervical Cancer Elimination, delivered a presentation on “The Canadian path to cervical cancer elimination.” Watch it here (available only until 7 November 2020). The Government of Canada cosponsored the World Health Assembly resolution and has committed to the elimination agenda, with its own goal of ending cervical cancer in the country by 2040. On World Cancer Day 2020, the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer announced an Action Plan for the Elimination of Cervical Cancer in Canada to achieve WHO’s elimination targets and ensure all Canadian women have access to high-quality and culturally sound care.  The Global Strategy to Accelerate the Elimination of Cervical Cancer as a Public Health Problem sets outs ambitious targets that each country should meet by 2030 to get on the path to eliminate cervical cancer within the century. Cervical cancer is a preventable and curable disease, as long as it is detected early and managed effectively. If we meet these 90-70-90 targets by 2030, we could save millions of lives in the coming years. You are receiving this email because you are included on a WHO mailing list.
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