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Cervical Cancer Awareness Month 2026 is observed throughout the month of January as an annual global initiative to promote awareness, prevention, and early detection of cervical cancer.  

The entire month of January is a dedicated period for healthcare providers, advocacy organisations, and communities worldwide to educate women and girls about this highly preventable disease.

The disease represents a significant burden both globally and in India, and is the second most common cancer in Indian women. What makes it worse is that cervical cancer can be prevented or easily treated, but the rising numbers indicate a clear lack of awareness. The World Health Organisation reports that approximately 95% of cervical cancer-related deaths occur in low income and middle income countries, including India.

Understanding the WHO strategy of 90-70-90 Targets

The cornerstone of international cervical cancer elimination efforts is the WHO's Global Strategy to Accelerate the Elimination of Cervical Cancer, which was first launched on November 17, 2020, when 194 countries pledged to eliminate cervical cancer by 2030. This was reaffirmed during the World Health Assembly in May 2025. The goal of this Global Strategy of elimination is to reach an   incidence rate of less  than 4 cases for every 100,000 women.

This comprehensive strategy establishes three key pillars with ambitious targets to be achieved by 2030, collectively known as the 90-70-90 targets. The three pillars include:

• Preventing cervical cancer through HPV vaccination
• Adequate screening and treatment of pre-cancerous lesions
• Optimal treatment for invasive cervical cancer

Based on these three pillars, the following path is to be followed to eliminate cervical cancer by 2030.

• 90% of girls to be given the HPV vaccine by the age of 15
• 70% of women are to be screened by the age of 35 and then 45 using a high-performance test
• 90% of women who have been identified with invasive or precancerous lesions are to be treated and or managed

The WHO projections show that if these 90-30-90 targets are met by 2030, the median incidence rate of cervical cancer can be potentially reduced by 10% by the year 2030 and 70 million cases could be averted by the year 2120. This strategy also has the potential of preventing 62 million cervical-cancer related deaths by the year 2120. 

How can this cervical cancer prevention strategy work effectively?

This strategy can work only with a robust monitoring system, cancer registries and tracking mechanisms.2 In addition,  coordinated efforts at the national level to strengthen healthcare systems, ensuring equitable access to health care and integrating cervical healthcare and prevention strategies into broader national health policies are a must.

Increasing awareness among the general masses, especially those in rural areas, remains the focus in India, where most cancers are diagnosed at advanced stages, making treatment challenging.

Key Messages to Increase Cervical Cancer Awareness

• Get vaccinated: HPV Vaccination is a primary HPV infection prevention method for cervical cancer and is proven safe and effective for pre-teens and young women.
• Get screened: Regular screening is critical and crucial and should be implemented. Pap smear is considered as the gold standard for cervical cancer screening and should be initiated by the age of 35, especially among the high-risk population. The goal of screening should be the identification of pre-cancerous lesions that can be treated before they become cancerous.
• Get treated: Immediate treatment initiation for early-stage cervical cancers.

Drawing on WHO's framework for cervical cancer elimination as a public health priority, cervical cancer represents a profound global health inequity; a disease that is almost entirely preventable, yet continues to claim hundreds of thousands of lives annually. It is up to healthcare providers as well as the general masses to spread the awareness about this highly preventable and treatable cancer and to align with the WHO strategy of eliminating cervical cancer by the year 2030.

Dr. Devendra Pal
M.D DNB ECMO
Consultant Cancer Physician
MOC Cancer Care & Research Centre, Panvel & Vashi .