Australia is on course to meet a target of eliminating cervical cancer by 2035, which, if achieved, will make it the first country to do so.

The latest report from the Centre for Research Excellence in Cervical Cancer Control reveals rates of the cancer among Australian women continue to fall, and progress is being made towards elimination ‘across most indicators’.

The national cervical cancer rate decreased to 6.3 per 100,000 in 2021, compared to 6.6 per 100,000 in 2020, but the report highlights that continuous monitoring is needed to confirm this is the beginning of a downward trend.

In 2021, there were no cervical cancer cases diagnosed in women under 25 for the first time since records began in 1982 – with the report stating ‘this remarkable achievement is almost certainly due to the impact of HPV vaccination’.