Within just two years, cervical cancer is set to become a rare disease in Australia, and by 2028 it will be so uncommon that it will no longer be considered a public health problem, according to a forecast made in the Lancet Public Health Journal.
This means that Australia will become the first country in the world to eliminate cervical cancer as a public health concern, and it’s largely thanks to the widespread nature of HPV vaccines.
The national HPV vaccination program was rolled out a decade ago, and was one of the first of its kind in the world. Improvements began long before that, though, when the country’s pap smear program was introduced in 1991.
Following the establishment of the pap smear program, cervical cancer rates in women dropped by about 50%, as pap smears mean problems can be identified before they develop further.
Cervical cancer rates in Australia are now at about 7 cases per 100,000, which is roughly half the global average.
The projections described in the forecast suggest that by 2066, the rate of cervical cancer will drop to less than one case per 100,000 women if screening for HPV every 5 years continues.
There’s one main takeaway from this, and it’s something that most of us already know: vaccines work. Sorry ’bout it!
(Header photo by Matthew Busch for The Washington Post via Getty Images)