Vaccines

Europe has an unprecedented opportunity to aim for the elimination of HPV-related disease and end the misery it causes for people in Europe. Despite the availability of a vaccine proven to be an effective primary prevention measure to reduce the burden of HPV-related cancer, many challenges remain in achieving universal, gender-neutral HPV vaccination in the EU. Public hesitation and unwarranted stigma around HPV disease and the vaccine remain a key contributor to low coverage rates in many EU Member States. Recent estimates suggest that over 5% of all cancers are attributed to HPV, including cervical cancer and some head and neck cancers.

In 2017, ECPC chaired a policy roundtable of experts from across Europe brought together for a common goal of eliminating HPV-related diseases in Europe. The key practical and achievable steps that will reduce the burden of HPV and prevent cancers were discussed, and further collaboration was agreed.

ECPC is a partner of the HPV Awareness Days since their launch in 2018, and continues to raise awareness via different advocacy activities, supporting European Immunisation Week organised by the European Centre for Disease Control and Prevention and patient education through the Make Sense of Head & Neck Cancer campaign. To eliminate HPV-related cancers in Europe, we must establish an active coalition that consistently and powerfully makes our case where it matters; ECPC is working with partners to make this happen.