San José, March 2024 San José, March 2024. In 2022, 245 women were diagnosed with cervical cancer; around 70% of cases were recorded in women between 30 and 59 years old.

Despite being a 100% preventable cancer, this disease is the fourth most common cancer in the country; in 2022, it caused the death of 133 women, according to data from the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses.

Within the framework of the commemoration of World Cervical Cancer Prevention Day, experts from the Costa Rican Agency for Biomedical Research (ACIB-FUNIN) make call to strengthen each of the prevention actions for this disease.

In this sense, they remember that, despite the great efforts that the country has made, there are still important challenges to achieve the elimination of this disease, as a public health problem.

One of the main challenges is to increase vaccination coverage against the human papillomavirus (HPV) in girls who have turned 10 years old, as well as to incorporate children and women up to 20 years old into the vaccination program.

Experts says that, while it is true, the vaccine against the HPV virus has a higher level of protection if it is given before the start of sexual relations, it has been shown that it also works when applied after.

“Costa Rica has done extraordinary work to achieve high vaccination coverage; The Costa Rican Social Security Fund is making great efforts in this field. In addition, the replacement of the Pap smear with the HPV screening test will allow better control of the disease and by this accelerate compliance with the Worldwide Strategy for the elimination of this disease, issued by the World Health Organization (WHO) and which includes three pillars: prevent, detect and treat. Costa Rica is one of the countries that has the least mortality from this cancer in Latin America, but it is clear that there is still a lot to do”, explains Dr. Rolando Herrero, scientific director of ACIB-FUNIN.

This Strategy sets three goals that must be met by 2030: a) That before the age of 15, 90% of girls are vaccinated against HPV, b) Achieve 70% cancer detection coverage in women between 35 and 45 years old, c) Treat 90% of precancerous lesions and invasive cancer cases.

Previously, the WHO recommended the administration of three doses, however, based on various worldwide studies, including several carried out in Costa Rica, it recommends that countries administer one or two doses. However, the agency is waiting for the results of the research being carried out in Costa Rica (ESCUDDO), to change the official recommendation to a single dose.

Cervical cancer causes more than 300,000 deaths each year worldwide; however, experts says that early detection of cases, along with rapid and quality treatment, can cure this disease.