To prevent and control deadly cervical cancer

Cervical cancer is one of the world’s deadliest but most easily preventable forms of cancer for women that is responsible for more than 270000 deaths annually, 85% of which occur in developing countries like Bangladesh. In order to better prevent and control cervical cancer, World Health Organisation (WHO) recently released a new guideline entitled "Comprehensive cervical cancer control: a guide to essential practice".
The main elements in the new guidance are:
* Vaccinate 9 to 13-year-old girls with two doses of HPV vaccine to prevent infection by the Human papillomavirus (HPV), the virus responsible for most cases of cervical cancer. The reduced, 2-dose schedule has been shown to be as effective as the current 3-dose schedule. The change will make it easier to administer the vaccine. In addition, it reduces the cost, which is particularly important for low- and middle-income countries where national health budgets are constrained but where the need for HPV vaccine is the greatest.
* Use HPV tests to screen women for cervical cancer prevention. With HPV testing, the frequency of screening will decrease. Once a woman has been screened negative, she should not be rescreened for at least 5 years, but should be rescreened within 10. This represents a major cost saving for health systems, in comparison with other types of tests.
The new guidance also highlights the importance of addressing gender discrimination and other inequities in relation to a range of other social factors (such as wealth, class, education, religion and ethnicity), in the design of health policies and programmes.