Cervical Cancer Awareness Month 2026: What does the EU do to prevent cervical cancer and improve cancer care?

January marks cervical cancer awareness month, a momentum for public health advocates to spread the word and raise awareness on cervical cancer. For women in the EU aged 15-44, cervical cancer is the second most common form of cancer (after breast cancer). Almost all cases of cervical cancer are related to the infection with cancer-causing types of human papillomavirus (HPV), a common sexually transmitted infection according to WHO. Though primarily women are affected, HPV can cause cancer in both women and men. 

Fortunately, cervical cancer is one of the most preventable and treatable forms of cancer. One of the goals of Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan is to eliminate cervical cancer by vaccinating young people against the HPV that causes it and is also linked to head and neck, and anal cancers. Complementing vaccinations, screening is vital to detect cancer early. 

Despite existing European guidelines for cervical cancer prevention, each year, there are around 33 000 cases of cervical cancer and 15 000 related deaths in the EU. The EU4Health project EUCervScreen QA, implemented by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in collaboration with the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre, started its work in 2023 with two main objectives: 

1. Updating the European clinical practice guidelines for cervical cancer prevention, including HPV vaccination, cervical screening, and treatment of pre-cancerous lesions;

2. Developing a European Quality Assurance (QA) scheme that covers the entire care pathway from primary to tertiary prevention, functioning as the vehicle for the implementation of the European guidelines and improving cancer care.

    

To date, the project has contributed to the European Commission Initiative on Cervical Cancer by:

• Finalised eight evidence-based recommendations on cervical cancer screening start and stop age as well as test type, which offer clear explanations of care options, including benefits and risks, and rate both the quality of evidence and the strength of recommendation associated with each intervention;
• Started the development of quality indicators of HPV-based screening programmes including for risk-based triage of HPV positive women, HPV detection technologies (DNA vs. mRNA vs. others), sample collection strategies (self-vaginal, self-urine vs. provider), screening intervals and screening in vaccinated population;
• Progressed with the development of requirements for the quality assurance scheme, starting with treatment-related pathways and general requirements. 

This initiative will help reduce inequalities in healthcare delivery, improve effectiveness of screening programmes, enhance patients’ quality of life as well as survival rates. 

Related links 

Learn more about other EU4Health projects working to fight cervical cancer:  

• EUCANSCREEN: Men’s Health Awareness Month: EU-funded projects promoting prevention and early detection of prostate cancer - European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA)
• JA SHIELD, HUMANCODE, PACE: 2024 EU4Health Work Programme: Discover new projects working on cancer prevention and early detection - European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA)