Our EU-funded project contributes to effective and innovative cervical cancer screening. With the project, the Health Sciences researchers from the Global Health group are committed to providing direct treatment for women worldwide, especially in resource-limited or hard-to-reach areas.
Every year, over 500,000 women worldwide are diagnosed with cervical cancer. This form of cancer is almost always caused by the sexually transmitted Human papillomavirus (HPV). Cervical cancer can largely be prevented through HPV vaccination and regular screening. Over 90% of deaths from this disease occur in poorer countries. Therefore, the PRESCRIP-TEC team is working to improve existing screening methods in countries with limited resources, such as Bangladesh, India, Uganda, and Slovakia. In these countries, standard screenings are often inaccessible or poorly available to the population.
To overcome the major barriers to screening, the team focuses on four key areas. The researchers aim to organize awareness sessions to inform women about the importance of screening. They also seek to enable self-testing for HPV. Furthermore, they intend to incorporate artificial intelligence (AI) in gynaecological examinations. AI can provide more precise diagnoses and facilitate the work of healthcare professionals. Finally, they strive to ensure that women in need of treatment or referral receive immediate assistance.
The department of Health Sciences would like to congratulate the entire PRESCRIP-TEC team on being named CORDIS project of the month. By the way, this is not the first time the project has received such recognition. In 2022, the team presented a poster featuring a comic strip in which a patient shares her experience with the screening process. This poster won the Community Choice Award at the annual Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases meeting.
More about PRESCRIP-TEC: PRESCRIP-TEC (umcgresearch.org) and PRESCRIP-TEC Horizon 2020 Project in cervical cancer prevention (prescriptec.org)
Read more on the CORDIS website: Making cervical cancer screening programmes available to women who need it most (europa.eu)
