“Back in December 2022 Gavi made a promise. After years of slow progress, Gavi committed to a historic revitalisation of our human papillomavirus – or HPV – vaccine programme.

With US$ 600 million in new investment, we set a target of increasing the number of girls in the world’s most vulnerable countries protected by this lifesaver almost seven-fold, from 13 million to 86 million, and we gave ourselves just three years to do it. By the end of 2024, coverage in Africa had risen to 44%, surpassing coverage rates in Europe.

It was an ambitious target, which would require reaching new countries with the vaccine and massively expanding existing programmes.

I’m proud to announce that we have met it, ahead of schedule.

The impact of this huge expansion in the availability of and access to the HPV vaccine will be felt for years to come.

An estimated 1 million lives will be saved. US$ 2.3 billion in economic benefits could be realised. And millions of girls across the world will face a future free from the suffering and anguish caused by cervical cancer.”

From Gavi.