According to the event’s program, the international meeting, under the theme “Advancing the Call to Action,” will serve as a forum for governments, donors and civil society to recommit to the cervical cancer elimination agenda.

“The event offers a defining moment for the world to accelerate progress collectively towards a groundbreaking promise made in 2020, when nearly 200 countries signed the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Strategy to Accelerate Cervical Cancer Elimination,” the text stated.

In that agreement, endorsed two years ago, three goals were established by 2030: 90 percent of girls vaccinated against the human papillomavirus (HPV) by age 15; 70 percent of women undergoing a high-throughput screening test at ages 35 and 45; and 90 percent of women with precancerous lesions or invasive cancer receiving treatment.

A press release on the Colombian State’s Single Portal points out that the world meeting, which will be held until March 7, will allow the country to become a leader in global health issues, as well as to share experiences and knowledge that will contribute to preventing, treating and eliminating the disease.

The forum is organized by the governments of Colombia and Spain, which have partnered with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the WHO, the Pan American Health Organization and the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI).

They are joined by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Bank, the Global Financing Facility and the United States Agency for International Development in co-sponsoring this event.

According to the WHO, every two minutes a woman dies from cervical cancer, a disease that is entirely preventable with a vaccine.

Forecasts estimate that deaths caused by cervical cancer will reach 410,000 annually by 2030.

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