Advancing the Cervical Cancer Elimination Initiative Agenda: the WHO guideline on the use of HPV DNA genotyping-Advancing the Cervical Cancer Elimination Initiative Agenda: the WHO guideline on the use of HPV DNA genotyping in cervical cancer screening and treatment

Advancing the Cervical Cancer Elimination Initiative Agenda: the WHO guideline on the use of HPV DNA genotyping in cervical cancer screening and treatment

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Video Summary

This webinar, hosted by the International Gynecologic Cancer Society (IGCS), focused on the WHO guideline for using HPV DNA genotyping in cervical cancer screening and treatment as part of the Cervical Cancer Elimination Initiative. Moderators Mila Salcedo and Ida Ismail Pratt introduced the IGCS Pre-Invasive Program, which supports training and capacity building, especially in low-resource settings.<br /><br />The speakers emphasized that cervical cancer elimination depends on more than screening alone: women who test positive must complete triage, treatment, and follow-up. A major challenge is loss to follow-up, which is reduced when screening results quickly lead to treatment. The presenters explained that HPV genotyping helps identify women at highest risk, allowing programs to prioritize treatment more effectively.<br /><br />Henny Botta discussed treatment options, including excisional procedures and thermal ablation, highlighting that thermal ablation is portable, inexpensive, and suitable for task-shifting to nurses and midwives. Maribel Almonte described the WHO guideline development process and the new recommendations, which compare no genotyping, limited genotyping, and extended genotyping. She stressed that program readiness and follow-up capacity are critical before implementing screening algorithms.<br /><br />The main recommendation is to use simpler, faster pathways when follow-up is weak, and more stratified genotyping when systems can reliably manage follow-up. The webinar also clarified that “colposcopic impression” is a decision-making step to determine treatment eligibility, not necessarily a formal diagnostic colposcopy.<br /><br />In discussion, the speakers noted that evidence is still insufficient for formal recommendations in women living with HIV, though genotype information remains clinically useful. The session ended by reaffirming that improved screening, triage, treatment, and tracking systems are essential to eliminating cervical cancer.

Keywords

cervical cancer screening

HPV DNA genotyping

WHO guideline

cervical cancer elimination

triage and treatment

loss to follow-up

thermal ablation

excisional procedures

low-resource settings

women living with HIV