Australia is moving toward a historic medical milestone: the country could become one of the first in the world to eliminate cervical cancer as a public health problem. A national strategy sets the goal of achieving this by 2035 — reducing incidence to fewer than 4 cases per 100,000 women.
The success rests on prevention. Australia introduced mass vaccination against human papillomavirus early: for girls from 2007 and for boys from 2013. Alongside this, a screening and treatment program for precancerous changes is in place.
In 2021, for the first time since national statistics began in 1982, Australia recorded no new cases of cervical cancer among women under 25.
“Elimination” does not mean the disease will disappear forever. It means cervical cancer becomes a rare and controlled disease. And yes, prevention will still have to continue — like brushing your teeth even after a good dentist visit.
