Dr Iacopo Baussano, a scientist in the Early Detection, Prevention, and Infections Branch at the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), explains how IARC’s research was instrumental to Brazil’s recent announcement that it is changing its recommendations for vaccination against human papillomavirus (HPV). HPV causes almost all cases of cervical cancer, and a large number of cases of other cancers, such as oropharyngeal cancer and anal cancer, are also caused by HPV infection.
Dr Baussano also explains the scale of the problem of HPV and cervical cancer in Brazil, how this decision will make a difference, and how it may affect other countries who are looking to eliminate cervical cancer.