A landmark event, bringing together health leaders, policymakers, researchers, and advocates from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Turkey, will today feature the signing of a joint declaration ‘Message Across Borders’, a regional call to action to eliminate cancers and other diseases associated to the human papilloma virus (HPV) in South East Europe.

HPV is responsible for at least six types of cancer: cervical, vaginal, anal, vulval, penile, and head & neck cancers. The HPV vaccine can prevent them all. 

The conference and joint declaration will strengthen regional partnerships, share successful practices, and explore policy solutions to significantly improve rates of vaccination and screening across South East Europe. 

It represents a commitment by all countries to collaborate closely in the fight against HPV. The model agreement focuses on five key objectives, including:

• Strengthening data collection and registry systems in target countries; 
• Implementing best practices in partnership building and stakeholder engagement to stimulate mobilisation and advocacy efforts; 
• Expanding gender-neutral vaccination coverage and enhancing screening programmes; and 
• Promoting knowledge exchange and joint solutions to address common challenges. 

The agreement was unveiled during the conference, ‘A Shared Vision for South East Europe: Eliminating HPV Cancers Together’, organised by the European Cancer Organisation and taking place at the Bulgarian Parliament in Sofia.

Key political figures participating include: Silvi Kirilov, Health Minister of Bulgaria; Kostadin Angelov, Member of Bulgarian Parliament and former Health Minister; Christina de Bruin, Representative of UNICEF Bulgaria and Daniel Kelly, Co-Chair of the ECO HPV and Hep B Action Network. Tiberius Brădăţan, Secretary of State for the Romanian Ministry of Health will also deliver a video address.

The conference will serve as a platform to discuss challenges and new opportunities for the coming year in combating HPV-related cancers across the region. 

Source: European Cancer Organisation