Papua New Guinea
Professor Andrew Vallely from the Kirby Institute at UNSW Sydney is leading a project on HPV testing and treatment for the elimination of cervical cancer in rural and remote Papua New Guinea (PNG).
The Kirby Institute and partners
This project builds on previous collaborative and world-leading research supporting the use of HPV-based screening and treatment for screening. The $1.59 million endeavour is complementary to the Minderoo project and is being conducted in collaboration with ACPCC (investigator Professor Marion Saville), Cancer Council NSW, Family Planning NSW, and the NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence in Cervical Cancer Control (C4), and in-country partners and stakeholders in PNG. ACPCC is supporting the project with our canSCREEN registry platform, as well as our laboratory, epidemiological and screening expertise.
The project will utilise the novel ‘test and treat’ screening model developed by our collaborative research team, comprising HPV testing of self-collected vaginal specimens followed by same-day treatment using a battery operated, portable thermal ablation device. This approach proved highly effective, acceptable and cost-effective in previous field trials.
The team will now establish how best to reach women in rural and remote communities, where cervical pre-cancer and cancer rates are highest, access to health services and most constrained, and the most at-risk women in PNG and other high-burden, low-resource countries live.
