The World Health Organisation recommends HPV self-sampling to ease emotional and psychological barriers that prevent many women from pursuing screening, thus empowering women to choose the approach that works best for them. Following WHO’s recommendations, Dr Gino Venegas, while serving as Director of Cancer at the Ministry of Health in 2017, developed the National Cervical Cancer plan and implemented a HPV primary screening program. To help achieve a target of 70% screening coverage, Peru dedicated substantial resources to public education and setting up HPV testing facilities in primary care settings in both urban and rural areas.

In this recording from IPVC 2023, Dr Gino Venegas shares how Peru tackled cervical cancer by addressing numerous barriers to screening, such as lack of awareness, affordability challenges, and social stigma around HPV testing.