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Can Indonesia eliminate cervical cancer by 2030?
The incidence and mortality rates of cervical cancer remain alarmingly high in Indonesia.
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A scientist monitors a control panel inside the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine manufacturing unit of the Serum Institute of India (SII) at its headquarters in Hadapsar, Pune, on Feb. 27, 2024. (AFP/Indranil Mukherjee)
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his year’s World Immunization Week, which ran from April 24 to 30, highlighted Indonesia’s ongoing struggle to combat cervical cancer, which continues to pose a significant health burden in the country. The incidence and mortality rates of cervical cancer remain alarmingly high in Indonesia, prompting the question: Can Indonesia meet the global goal of eliminating cervical cancer by 2030?
With the theme “Immunization for All is Humanly Possible”, the commemoration served as a compelling reminder of the importance of immunization in protecting people, especially young Indonesians, from preventable diseases, including those caused by human papillomavirus (HPV).
As the world continues to navigate the pandemic’s lasting impacts, cervical cancer has become a forgotten threat to women’s health.
Today, cervical cancer remains a major public health challenge, with the staggering statistic of one woman losing her life to cervical cancer worldwide every two minutes, according to World Health Organization data.
In Indonesia, cervical cancer is the second most common cancer among women, with breast cancer topping the list, says the Health Ministry. Indonesia reported 36,633 new cases and 21,003 deaths from cervical cancer in 2020, which means more than 50 women die from this cancer every day in the country, according to data published by the Global Cancer Observatory (GLOBOCAN) in 2020.
One important fact is that almost all or 99 percent of cervical cancers are linked to infections triggered by HPV.
Internist and vaccine advocate Dirga Sakti Rambe said anyone can get HPV infection at any point in their life, but the risk is higher among people in their reproductive age, regardless of gender.
