Last year, the World Health Organisation (WHO) announced an ambitious plan: to create a ‘cervical cancer-free future’. The potential reward is huge. If we succeed, cervical cancer will become the first cancer to be ‘eliminated’ on this scale.

Globally, cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer in women - 99% of cases worldwide are caused by a few high-risk strains of a common virus called human papillomavirus and in many countries around the world, people are given a vaccine to prevent HPV at an early age.

Despite data from countries like Sweden and the UK showing that vaccination programmes reduce cervical cancer rates dramatically, there are still countries - such as the USA - that don't have universally accessible programmes.

We hear from Dr Ishu Kataria - Public Health Researcher at RTI International, whose work into non-communicable diseases has found her working with the UN and WHO. Right now, she and her team are working out how to get the HPV vaccine to more than 70 million girls in India.

How to find out more about Dr Kataria's work:

• Follow Dr Kataria at @ishukataria3
• Dr Ishu Kataria - RTI International

To read more about the topics discussed:

• “That is what I dream”: India’s journey to rolling out the HPV vaccine - Cancer Research UK
• Cervical Cancer Elimination Initiative - WHO
• HPV vaccine cutting cervical cancer by nearly 90% - BBC
• HPV Vaccine Should Be Universal For Boys And Girls, Ages 9-14 - Forbes

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