Press Release

Leaders Convene to Set a Global Agenda to Fight Cervical Cancer

International Conference opens in Brussels, Belgium, 27-28 September 2007

For immediate release
Date: 27 September 2007

Media Inquiries:
Oisika Chakrabarti, Media Specialist, UNIFEM Headquarters, +1 212 906-6506,

Brussels — Women's leaders from around the world are converging on Brussels today and tomorrow to push for making cervical cancer and women's lives an urgent priority for national and international action.

"We have a tremendous opportunity now to save the lives of the women who are the backbone of their families and communities especially in poor countries. We need vaccines and screening to be made available to all women regardless of where they live," says Princess Mathilde of Belgium, who is opening the conference.

Cervical cancer affects more than 500,000 women each year, killing more than 250,000 worldwide. 80% of these deaths occur in developing countries where prevention and treatment are not available. Cervical cancer is caused by the Human Pappillioma Virus (HPV), which is sexually transmitted. The disease primarily strikes women aged 50–55.

New vaccines protect against the virus and prevent the cancer from ever developing. Effective screening programs in rich countries catch the cancer early and have cut death rates by more than 80%.
New, simple and cost-effective screening techniques exist, but are scarcely used in the developing world.

"By tackling cervical cancer head on, we are taking a firm stance for the right of women to a healthy life. The health of women and girls, especially in the developing world, has been grossly neglected. We hope this conference will be a watershed event in our efforts to make cervical cancer and the lives of women an urgent priority," said Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President of Liberia.

The conference, hosted by the Belgian government and convened by the European Commission and the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), will focus on bringing together key stakeholders involved in the effort to fight cervical cancer. Advocates, pharmaceutical companies, regulators, politicians, doctors and nurses, and women's leaders will discuss how best to tackle the disease.

"We need to work together now to save the lives of women in developed and developing countries. Everyone must do their part, we need tiered pricing from pharmaceutical companies, strategies to reach women and girls everywhere, adequate and predictable funding from donors and political will to tackle the stigma associated with this disease," said Dr. Lieve Fransen, representative of the European Commission.

UNIFEM Executive Director a.i. Joanne Sandler added: "We must not fail. But we know the dangers all too well: unless issues like access, pricing, distribution and education are addressed from a gender equality and women's human rights perspective, there is a very real possibility that the women and girls who need these — mostly women in developing countries, but also including marginalized women in industrialized countries —  will not benefit from these technological advances."