Geneva, 4 December 2014 - At the 2014 World Cancer Leader’s Summit and World Cancer Congress, vaccine-preventable cancers are ranked as one of the two top cost-effective prevention priorities, alongside tobacco control, that should be prioritised for investment in combatting cancer in low- and middle-income countries.

Professor Ian Frazer, creator of the HPV vaccine and Australian of the Year, opened the Congress with the message, ‘prevention is best’, placing the goal of eliminating cervical cancer with HPV vaccines on par with polio eradication.

Although HPV vaccines are available in over 50 mainly higher-income countries, they have been out of the reach of poorer countries mainly due to the vaccine’s high price. A major step towards equal access to HPV vaccine, was the 2013 negotiation of a record low price of US $4.50 per dose.

In Melbourne, the Gavi-negotiated HPV vaccine price of US $4.50 per dose was lauded by The Cancer Atlas 2014 – co-published by the American Cancer Society, World Health Organization, International Agency for Research on Cancer, and Union for International Cancer Control.

‘Few public health health investments provide a greater dividend than HPV vaccination’. At this price, vaccination of girls is considered “very cost-effective”.

Ambassador Sally Cowal, Senior Vice-President of the American Cancer Society, praised Gavi’s hepatitis B vaccines, for preventing 3.5 million future deaths, while adding her voice in support of Gavi’s ambition to protect millions of girls from cervical cancer in the world’s poorest countries.

The Cancer Leaders call to fully fund Gavi was signed by leading cancer advocacy organisations: American Cancer Society, Forum of African First Ladies Against Cervical, Breast & Prostate Cancer, Livestrong Foundation, The NCD Alliance, Norwegian Cancer Society, Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon, Union for International Cancer Control.