Bar Levy, Founder and CEO of HaBait Shel Bar, posted on LinkedIn:
“The Next UN NCDs Political Declaration Must Go Further: From Cervical Cancer Elimination to All HPV-Related Diseases Elimination.
As the 2025 UN GA High-Level Meeting on NCDs approaches, the global community has a rare opportunity to reshape public health priorities for the next decade.
But there are so many things that are missing.
For example, In the Zero Draft of the upcoming Political Declaration, HPV elimination is not included – and the draft remains narrowly focused on only cervical cancer.
In addition, there is no explicate commitment for gender-neutral vaccination (GNV) against HPV, although we already know that it is a key tool in reaching HPV and cervical cancer elimination.
In an effort led by Global Action on Men’s Health and NOMAN is an Island: Race to End HPV – HaBait Shel Bar – Israel’s Women’s Cancer Association (RA) and other patient advocacy organisations requested from our governments to advocate for the inclusion of GNV vaccination in the upcoming Political Declaration.
But, it does not stop here. We know that we have to keep encourage the international community.
I am proud to share that together with key opinion leaders worldwide, such as Prof. Anna Giuliano, Prof. Joel M. Palefsky, Prof. Zvi Vaknin and Dr. Yakir Segev, we published a comment in the International Journal of Cancer (IJC), calling to action.
We argue: Cervical cancer is only one part of the HPV burden.
- HPV causes 90% of anal cancers
- 70% of oropharyngeal cancers
- 60–75% of penile, vaginal, and vulvar cancers
Yet current global strategies leave most of these diseases out of the conversation.
It’s a policy failure that costs lives.
In my opinion, trying to eliminate cervical cancer without addressing the full scope of HPV-related disease is like fighting lung cancer but ignoring smoking.
I personally call the United Nations Secretary-General, Mr. António Guterres, the World Health Organization, and all global stakeholders to:
- Name elimination of all HPV-related diseases as a global goal – not just cervical cancer.
- Adopt gender-neutral vaccination and invest in catch-up programs.
- Encourage screening R and D to cover anal and oropharyngeal cancers, especially in high-risk groups.
This is scientifically sound, economically feasible – and morally urgent.
HPV-related diseases are preventable. The only thing stopping us is limited vision.”
Title: Comment addressing the 2025 Zero Draft: A global call for HPV elimination
Journal: International Journal of Cancer
Authors: Bar Levy, Nitsan Schwarz, Zohar Magen, Zvi Vaknin, Yakir Segev, Joel M Palefsky, and Anna R Giuliano
More from Bar Levy on OncoDaily.