[News] Africa needs to boost HPV vaccine uptake to stem rise in cervical cancer

Cervical cancer rates have been falling across the world over the past 30 years due to improved cervical screening and, since 2008, to the introduction of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination programmes. Vaccinating girls aged 12–13 years against four subtypes of HPV has been shown to reduce the risk of cervical cancer by 87%; however, this month, WHO warned that global HPV vaccine coverage has reached only 15%.