Visitors and news

Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) kill 41 million people each year, equivalent to 71% of all deaths globally. NCDs, also known as chronic diseases, tend to be of long duration and are the result of a combination of genetic, physiological, environmental and behavioural factors. The main types of NCDs are cardiovascular diseases, cancers, chronic respiratory diseases and diabetes. An integrated approach is particularly important for low-resource settings for efficient use of limited resources. WHO Package of Essential NCD interventions will help to improve the coverage of appropriate services for people with NCDs services in primary care settings. View the WHO publication.

In this study, the authors evaluated the efficacy of thermal ablation in treatment of CIN detected through high-risk HPV screening in China. They found that thermal ablation is effective to treat CIN as well as to clear the high-risk HPV infection. HPV test could be a suitable surveillance test for women following treatment. This point-of-care ablative technique improves the access to treatment of cervical premalignant lesions in LMICs.
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Dr Partha Basu, head of the screening group, supports the new academic initiative of Indian College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists (ICOG) and will participate to the inauguration of the Journal club on 9th September 2020 at 5pm Indian time.
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Ms Lara Rodrigues Da Matta Calegari from the Faculdade Evangélica Mackenzie do Paraná, Brazil, has joined the Screening Group at IARC as an intern. Lara will participate in research activities on health inequalities research related to cancer screening programmes, evaluating data on measurable indicators of inequalities in access to screening in low and middle income countries.

In this commentary published in HPVWORLD, Dr Partha Basu discusses the Quebec's Mixed HPV vaccination schedule introduction: The revised vaccination schedule has allowed the Quebec Government to save $ 3 million a year that they have utilized to extend the vaccination to the boys in Grade 4 of primary school. View the commentary.

Ms Thea Beate Brevik from Molde University College, Norway, has joined the Screening Group at IARC as a postdoctoral fellow. Thea will participate in research activities on the health inequalities research related to cancer screening programmes, evaluating data on measurable indicators of education and cancer screening participation, as well as inequalities in access to screening (barriers).

Authors of this publication assessed the intra-laboratory and inter-observer reproducibility of a rapid test for detection of high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) types at three different levels of the health-care system in one urban region and one rural region in the United Republic of Tanzania. The results of their assessment have been published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention. View the article and the IARC News.

The proposal led by the IARC Screening Group "Comprehensive Learning Programme on Screening, Diagnosis and Management of Cervical Precancer" was selected among the twenty first course proposals submitted from WHO-wide colleagues to be developed and become part of the WHO Academy's initial course offerings in 2021-2022. View the 90-second pitches of their course ideas in rapid succession.

WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and Dr Princess Nothemba Simelela present the global strategy to accelerate the elimination of cervical cancer as a public health problem.
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In this editorial, Dr Basu stresses that COVID-19 pandemic should not be allowed to overshadow the cancer control activities. The COVID-19 response strategies for the country should incorporate measures to bring back to normal the temporarily derailed NCD control measures and continue planning for the future. Else, the world will face a twin tragedy of large number of premature deaths occurring both from communicable and non-communicable diseases. View the article.