With the goal of offering innovative diagnostic solutions through its Global Access Program to countries that need it most, Roche is supporting the efforts of healthcare agencies, policymakers and funding institutions to bring rapid, scalable and clinically-validated human papillomavirus (HPV) screening tests for cervical cancer prevention to Kenya and Nigeria.
It is well known that HPV infection is the main cause of cervical cancer, with HPV types 16 and 18 responsible for about 70% of cervical cancer and pre-cancerous cervical lesions.1 HPV is a quite common sexually transmitted infection and often has no symptoms, meaning women and their partners will not even know they have it. In most cases, an HPV infection will resolve on its own, but in some women, the infection persists, and over time can lead to cervical pre-cancer or cancer. Women in low-income regions are especially vulnerable, because preventive measures to find and treat cervical disease before invasive cancer develops, are not in place. Through proper screening to identify women at risk, HPV immunization strategies and treatment, cervical cancer is one of the few cancers that can be prevented.