Launch of SUCCESS Project in the Philippines intensifies fight against cervical cancer

PRESS RELEASE: Launch of SUCCESS Project in the Philippines intensifies fight against cervical cancer

5 May 2021 - The Department of Health (DOH) and Jhpiego, on April 12, signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the SUCCESS Consortium for the implementation of the Scale up Cervical Cancer Elimination with Secondary prevention Strategy (SUCCESS) project funded by Unitaid.

In the Philippines, SUCCESS will support the cervical cancer elimination goals of the DOH by working in 30 health facilities in the country and aims to screen 50,000 women by November 2022, including nearly 7,000 women living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

“Since women living with HIV are six times more likely to develop cervical cancer, it is important that through this project, we pay special attention to this co-infection” said Ms. Ingrid R. Magnata, Country Program Manager at Jhpiego Philippines.

“Cervical cancer is one of the leading cancers among women in the Philippines, and thousands of deaths are expected to occur every year due to this disease. With this partnership, we can assure improved services and strengthened efforts in fighting cervical cancer in the country amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The doubled efforts in early detection through intensified screening will help prevent our loved ones from succumbing to cervical cancer,” Secretary of Health Francisco T. Duque III said.

Cervical cancer is mainly caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV), some genotypes of which lead to the formation of precancerous lesions, but it is preventable if these lesions are identified at an early stage. The SUCCESS project implements an approach based on enhanced and simplified screening; prevention of cancer through HPV testing and thermal ablation of precancerous lesions; intensified dissemination of information on this cancer to the populations concerned; and capacity building of these services in target countries, among others.

“In 2020, there were 7,897 new cases of cervical cancer in the Philippines, which makes it the second most common cancer among women, and slightly more than 4,000 deaths, or 15% of all cancer deaths. While cervical cancer can be easily prevented and treated with early intervention, it is imperative to make efforts to significantly reduce the number of proven cases,” said Mr. Eric Fleutelot, Technical Director of Health Department of Expertise France.

Screening 185,000 women on three continents

In addition to the Philippines, SUCCESS project is working in three other countries, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire and Guatemala. With a goal of screening 185,000 women, 40% of whom are living with HIV, the project is aligned with the World Health Organization’s (WHO) strategy for cervical cancer elimination. These four low- and middle-income countries are representative of low-resource regions where more than 85% of the women who die from cervical cancer today are found. SUCCESS aims to build capacity in the target countries to improve coverage of cervical cancer control services. SUCCESS also goes beyond these areas through regional outreach in about 20 countries.

“The pandemic has weakened health systems around the world and disrupted public health programs benefiting the most vulnerable populations. I am very glad that critical health programs such as SUCCESS can continue to emerge and contribute to strengthening health systems on key public health themes. I am proud of France’s support to the SUCCESS project, through Unitaid and Expertise France, which I am confident will be fruitful thanks to its innovative approach, and will be replicated in other regions with the aim to eliminate cervical cancer,” said H.E. Michèle Boccoz, Ambassador of France to the Philippines and former Assistant Director-General at the World Health Organization in Geneva.

A project supported by experienced actors committed to fight against cervical cancer

Funded by Unitaid, SUCCESS is implemented by Expertise France, in partnership with a consortium that already has experience and expertise in cervical cancer prevention and control: Jhpiego and the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC). While Jhpiego works closely with the DOH, providing technical support through health care provider training, precancer screening and treatment activities, demand generation, and implementation research, UICC supports civil society organizations in capacity building for advocacy and scale-up.