At the 35th International Papillomavirus Conference (IPVC) in April 2023, Dr Gino Venegas of the Department of Gynaecologic Oncology at the Angloamericana Clinic in Lima shares how Peru tackled cervical cancer by addressing numerous barriers to screening, such as lack of awareness, affordability challenges, limited political commitment to progress, and social stigma around HPV testing. While Director of Cancer at the Ministry of Health in 2017, he developed the National Cervical Cancer plan and implemented a HPV primary screening programme, bringing molecular testing for HPV detection to the first line of testing in 2021, the first of its kind in the country.

To help achieve a target of 70% screening coverage, Peru dedicated substantial resources to public education and setting up testing facilities in primary care settings in both urban and rural areas. In doing so, Peru followed the World Health Organisation’s recommendation of HPV self-sampling to ease emotional and psychological barriers that prevent many women from pursuing screening, thus empowering women to choose the approach that works best for them. 

Watch the full video below, and check out some of the other sessions from IPVC via the related links in the sidebar.