Cervical cancer is preventable and curable, as long as it is detected early and managed effectively, yet it is the fourth most common form of cancer among women worldwide. In August 2020 the World Health Assembly adopted the Global Strategy for Cervical Cancer Elimination. The strategy outlines a comprehensive approach that includes prevention, effective screening and treatment of pre-cancerous lesions, early cancer diagnosis and programmes for the management of invasive cervical cancer including palliative care.

The aim of the WHO cervical cancer country profiles is to bring out the current status of cervical cancer for each of the WHO Member States (194 total) curated from multiple data sources. These profiles help to establish a baseline for the country and support monitoring trends toward the achievement of the Elimination of cervical cancer as a public health problem.

The profiles include the following information:

• burden of cervical cancer: cervical cancer incidence, cumulative risk of cervical cancer, total number of deaths and trends in deaths, and cervical cancer mortality to incidence;
• primary prevention: HPV vaccination programme coverage and programme details, related risk factors including tobacco use prevention, condom use at last high-risk sex and HIV incidence;
• secondary prevention: national screening programme for cervical cancer details and cervical cancer screening rate;
• treatment and supportive care: national guidelines for cervical cancer management, cancer diagnosis and treatment service availability, availability of specialized medical staff, palliative care.

The data presented in the profiles are derived from several sources. For details on these please see Explanatory notes.