News
NHS plans to eliminate cervical cancer in England by 2040
The NHS aims to set out plans to improve access to HPV vaccination appointments and maximise cervical screening uptake
The NHS has pledged to eliminate cervical cancer in England by 2040, in a move that could save thousands of lives.
Speaking at NHS Providers’ annual conference, NHS chief executive Amanda Pritchard has outlined how the health service can achieve the goal for elimination by making it as easy as possible for people to get the lifesaving HPV vaccination and increasing cervical screening uptake.
England is among the first countries in the world to set this elimination ambition within the next two decades. The World Health Organisation considers cervical cancer to be eliminated as a public health problem when there is an incidence rate lower than four per 100,000 women.
As part of new plans to put the NHS one step closer to eliminating the HPV virus, which causes up to 99 per cent of cervical cancers, Pritchard said health professionals will be supported to identify those who most need the vaccine.
The NHS will also set out plans to improve access to online vaccination appointments nationally, with millions more people able to view their full vaccination record and book vaccines on the NHS App over the coming months.
Vaccinations, Pritchard said, will become part of a “one-stop shop”, with NHS staff set to expand the offer of blood pressure tests and other health checks and advice, alongside routine vaccinations.
The HPV vaccine prevents invasive strains of the virus, known to cause almost all cervical cancers, as well as some mouth and throat cancers. It is given to both girls and boys in secondary school to protect them against catching the HPV infection and developing into pre-cancerous and cancer cells.
To eliminate cervical cancer by 2040, the NHS needs to ensure as many people as possible are being vaccinated against HPV, while also coming forward for cervical screening.
Pritchard said: “It is truly momentous to be able to set out such an important, life-saving ambition. To eliminate cervical cancer would be an incredible achievement and through a combination of our HPV vaccination programme and our highly-effective cervical screening programme, it could become a reality in in the next two decades.
“Vaccination and screening are the key tools which mean we are one step closer to achieving this and the NHS is already making it easier than ever before for people to protect themselves and their families – whether it’s through community outreach in areas of lower uptake or expanding the NHS app so that everyone has their vaccine history and booking options in the palm of their hand.
“As ever, the public can play their part by coming forward for their vaccines and screening appointments when invited – to achieve our goal of eliminating cervical cancer, we need as many people as possible to take up the offer, so please don’t delay – it could save your life.”
Around 2,700 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer in England each year, but the NHS screening programme helps save around 5,000 lives each year.
NHS screening helps prevent cervical cancer by using a test to check for high-risk HPV which may cause abnormal cells to develop in the cervix. These abnormal cells can, over time, turn into cancer if left untreated.
The NHS is inviting more people than ever before for cervical screening, while self-sampling will be trialled to determine if it could be introduced as part of national screening.
Steve Russell, chief delivery officer and national director for vaccinations and screening for NHS England, said: “Vaccination and screening are some of the most powerful tools we have for preventing disease and for keeping people from becoming unwell.
“We have learnt invaluable lessons from the pandemic, with our hugely successful Covid-19 vaccine programme saving thousands of lives, and our vision for the future of vaccination draws on those learnings, with plans to educate millions more people on the importance of vaccination, while making it easier than ever before to access vaccines online.”
Through routine and post-pandemic catch-up programmes, by school age year 10, 86 per cent of girls and 81 per cent of boys received one dose of the HPV vaccine, with studies suggesting the vaccine programme has prevented around 450 cancers and 17,200 pre-cancers.
Following the latest advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), the NHS recently updated its HPV vaccination programme to single dose instead of two doses for under 25s.
This move will make it more convenient for young people to ensure they are protected and up to date with their vaccinations.
Professor Peter Johnson, national clinical director for cancer at NHS England, said: “It’s tremendous news that we are on track to eliminate cervical cancer by 2040 in this country. But alongside the success of the HPV vaccine for both boys and girls, regular cervical screenings for women are still essential to stop the development of cancerous cells in their tracks.
“A third of women do not take up the offer of cervical screening when invited, which is still a big risk for our plans.
“Cervical cancer often causes no symptoms during the early stages of the disease, so it is especially important that people attend their tests when in invited by the NHS and that those who are eligible get vaccinated against HPV.”
Cancer Research UK’s head of health and patient information, Dr Julie Sharp, added: “We support NHS England’s target and pledge to save even more lives from cervical cancer. Combined with screening, HPV vaccination could reduce cervical cancer to the point where almost no one develops it.
“To ensure everyone has equal access to these life-saving programmes, there must be targeted action to increase HPV vaccination coverage and reduce barriers to cervical screening.
“This ambition will only be possible if the vaccination and screening programmes are backed by sufficient resource and modern IT infrastructure.”
Martin Hunt, CEO of Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust said: “We’re really pleased that NHS England is pledging to eliminate cervical cancer by 2040.
“The HPV vaccination programme is incredibly successful and has already led to an 87 per cent decrease in cervical cancer incidence in women in their 20s.”
He added: “It’s fantastic to see renewed efforts to make sure that everyone has the opportunity to receive the jab and reduce their risk of cervical cancer. By improving the uptake of both cervical screening and HPV vaccines, we can make cervical cancer a thing of the past.”
To receive the Femtech World newsletter, sign up here.
Ovarian cancer cells quickly activate survival responses after PARP inhibitor treatment, and a lung cancer drug could help block this, research suggests.
PARP inhibitors are a common treatment for ovarian cancer, particularly in tumours with faulty DNA repair. They stop cancer cells fixing DNA damage, which leads to cell death, but many tumours later stop responding.
Researchers identified a way cancer cells may survive PARP inhibitor treatment from the outset, pointing to a potential way to block that response. A Mayo Clinic team found ovarian cancer cells rapidly switch on a pro-survival programme after exposure to PARP inhibitors. A key driver is FRA1, a transcription factor (a protein that turns genes on and off) that helps cancer cells adapt and avoid death.
The team then tested whether brigatinib, a drug approved for certain lung cancers, could block this response and boost the effect of PARP inhibitors. Brigatinib was chosen because it inhibits multiple signalling pathways involved in cancer cell survival.
In laboratory studies, combining brigatinib with a PARP inhibitor was more effective than either treatment alone. Notably, the effect was seen in cancer cells but not normal cells, suggesting a more targeted approach.
Brigatinib also appeared to act in an unexpected way. Rather than working through the usual DNA repair routes, it shut down two signalling molecules, FAK and EPHA2, that aggressive ovarian cancer cells rely on. FAK and EPHA2 are proteins that relay survival signals inside cells. Blocking both at once weakened the cells’ ability to adapt and resist treatment, making them more vulnerable to PARP inhibitors.
Tumours with higher levels of FAK and EPHA2 responded better to the drug combination. Other data link high levels of these molecules to more aggressive disease, pointing to potential benefit in harder-to-treat cases.
Arun Kanakkanthara, an oncology investigator at Mayo Clinic and a senior author of the study, said: “This work shows that drug resistance does not always emerge slowly over time; cancer cells can activate survival programmes very early after treatment begins.”
John Weroha, a medical oncologist at Mayo Clinic and a senior author of the study, said: “From a clinical perspective, resistance remains one of the biggest challenges in treating ovarian cancer. By combining mechanistic insights from Dr Kanakkanthara’s laboratory with my clinical experience, this preclinical work supports the strategy of targeting resistance early, before it has a chance to take hold. This strategy could improve patient outcomes.”
Nighttime temperatures during pregnancy may be linked to a higher chance of an autism diagnosis in children, a recent study suggests.
The research tracked nearly 295,000 mother-child pairs in Southern California from 2001 to 2014 and linked warmer overnight temperatures with higher risk in early and late pregnancy.
Children of mothers exposed to higher than typical nighttime temperatures during weeks one to 10 of pregnancy had a 15 per cent higher risk of an autism diagnosis.
Exposure during weeks 30 to 37 was linked to a 13 per cent higher risk.
Lead author David Luglio, a post-doctoral fellow at Tulane University, said: “A key takeaway is that we identified specific windows when a mother and her developing child can be most affected by exposures to higher nighttime temperatures.
“This is critical and hopefully can help mothers prepare accordingly.”
The study is described as the first to examine how temperature may affect fetal neurodevelopment, the process by which a baby’s brain and nervous system form during pregnancy.
Extreme temperatures linked to increased risk were classified as above the 90th percentile, meaning 3.6°F hotter than average, and the 99th percentile, 5.6°F above average.
The association held even after researchers accounted for factors such as neighbourhood conditions, vegetation and fine-particle air pollution.
The study could not account for other factors such as access to air conditioning. Researchers did not find the same association with daytime temperatures, potentially because people spend more time away from home during the day.
“Heat waves are becoming more frequent, and people may only think of the dangers of daytime heat exposure,” said Mostafijur Rahman, assistant professor of environmental health sciences at Tulane University.
“These results indicate a strong association between high nighttime temperatures during pregnancy and autism risk in children and show that we need to think about exposure to heat around the clock.”
The study did not examine how higher temperatures at night might affect prenatal development, though Luglio said it is possible that warmer nights disrupt sleep for pregnant mothers.
Previous research has suggested insufficient sleep during pregnancy may be linked to a higher risk of neurocognitive delays in children.
“Extreme heat exposure during pregnancy has been linked to a range of adverse health outcomes, including prenatal neurodevelopment delays and complications with an embryo’s development of a central nervous system,” Luglio said.
“The goal of our study was to specifically explore the link between prenatal heat exposure and autism diagnoses for the first time.”
Kindbody has launched a fertility platform integrating AI with clinical care and patient support for employers and health plans.
The platform will enter a pilot with select Kindbody employer clients in 2026, covering over three million lives, ahead of wider availability in 2027.
Building on the company’s clinical model, the platform aims to improve outcomes and cost efficiency across family-building journeys. It connects Kindbody-owned clinics, partner clinics and an integrated clinical app.
The app offers virtual care across conception, pregnancy and reproductive health, extending through the menopause transition.
Launch features include updates in medication management, third-party reproduction, adoption, pregnancy, men’s health and global programme design.
David Stern, chief executive of Kindbody, said: “With our next-generation fertility platform, Kindbody is redefining what comprehensive, intelligent and affordable family-building care looks like for employers, health plans and patients.
“By unifying best-in-class clinical care, AI-driven intelligence and whole-person support, we are making it easier and more cost-effective for more people to build the families they envision.”
Kindbody has expanded access via its national network of IVF centres, including IVIRMA, Inception Fertility and Ivy Fertility.
A new Fertility Medication Portal is designed to streamline authorisations so medicines can be dispensed on time, giving patients visibility from prescription to coverage, pharmacy fulfilment and delivery tracking.
Through KindMan, men’s health education, digital resources and integrated clinical care are expanding, including hormone management programmes.
Services cover andropause (age-related testosterone decline), erectile dysfunction, low testosterone and other male reproductive conditions.
Specialist fertility care includes semen analysis, diagnostic testing, male hormone panels, genetic testing, surgical sperm extraction and sperm cryopreservation.
Launching in the second quarter, a pregnancy support app will act as a digital companion for expecting and new parents, with resources, interactive tools and clinical assessments to identify social drivers of health and mental health needs during pregnancy and beyond.
Kindbody’s physician-led menopause programme provides consultations with board-certified obstetricians and gynaecologists to diagnose, treat and manage menopausal symptoms, including hormone replacement therapy where appropriate, with support from nutritionists, mental health therapists and pelvic floor specialists.
AI and analytics will be embedded across the care journey. An AI care navigator will guide employees from benefit activation through intake, triage and scheduling.
Tools will track benefits and treatment plans, showing coverage and expected out-of-pocket costs at each step.
AI-supported scribing will assist clinicians with documentation, and a predictor tool will estimate a patient’s likelihood of having a baby across different treatment paths.
In 2027, Kindbody plans a savings model for eligible large employers that it says will guarantee lower total fertility spend while improving clinical efficiency and patient experience.
-
Fertility2 weeks agoParents sue IVF clinic after delivering someone else’s baby
-
Wellness3 weeks agoWomen’s health could unlock US$100bn by 2030
-
Insight4 weeks agoChina’s birth rate hits record low despite government fertility efforts
-
Menopause3 weeks agoHRT linked to greater weight loss on tirzepatide
-
Entrepreneur7 days agoUS startup builds wearable hormone tracker
-
Menopause3 weeks agoFlo Health and Mayo Clinic publish global perimenopause awareness study
-
Menopause2 weeks agoStudy reveals gap between perimenopause expectations and experience
-
Fertility6 days agoFrance urges 29-year-olds to start families now
1 Comment