“It takes time for cancer patients to realise what they're really up against," said Violeta Ivković.

Thirty years ago, Ms. Ivković, from Belgrade, Serbia, was a working mother with three small children, when she was diagnosed with early stage cervical cancer.

”I went to the gynaecologist every six months,” said Ms. Ivković. “Fortunately, the cancer was discovered in time. I had therapy, a radical hysterectomy, then radiation treatment.”

In 2019, the Government of Albania, with UNFPA support, established the country’s first cervical cancer screening programme targeting women between 40 and 50 years old.

So far, 52,000 women have been screened. Albania aims to screen 80 per cent of this target group by the end of 2025.

“My illness was discovered by chance.”

The Annual Forum of the Regional Alliance for Cervical Cancer Prevention in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, held in Tbilisi on 28-29 September 2023 and co-hosted by United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) succeeded in uniting key stakeholders, including the private sector, to discuss challenges and solutions to addressing cervical cancer as a public health issue. 

TBILISI, 28 September 2023 – Greater efforts are needed to end cervical cancer in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, participants said today in Tbilisi at the opening of the 3rd Forum Meeting of the Regional Alliance for Cervical Cancer Prevention hosted by UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency, and the Government of Georgia.