Australia Pursues Cervical Cancer Elimination

Why this is here: Vaccination rates among Australian girls under 15 are just above 80 percent, and 85 percent of women in the critical screening age group have been tested.

In Australia, scientists and public health officials are working to eliminate cervical cancer by 2035. Professor Karen Canfell of the World Health Organization used modeling to project a path toward elimination through vaccination and screening.

Researchers at the University of Queensland developed Gardasil in 2006, a vaccine preventing HPV infection—a primary cause of cervical cancer. Australia launched a national vaccination program the following year, later extending it to include boys.

The country transitioned from Pap smears to more sensitive HPV-based screening in 2017, and recently enabled self-collection of samples. Since 1982, both incidence and mortality rates have halved, with no cases diagnosed in women under 25 in 2021. However, cervical cancer rates remain twice as high among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women.

Challenges include vaccine hesitancy, rising healthcare costs, and gaps in school-based vaccination follow-up. Australia now shares its approach with countries like Sweden and Rwanda, but global progress is threatened by cuts to international aid.