Cervical cancer is one of the most preventable cancers, yet it remains a leading cause of cancer death among women in low- and middle-income countries. The tools to prevent it exist; what is missing is a way to bring them to the women who need them most.

The ETiCCS initiative was founded at the Department of Applied Tumor Biology to close this gap. Together with universities, hospitals and ministries of health in Africa and Asia, we develop screening programs that work in settings with limited resources. Our approach combines community-based HPV self-sampling with biomarker-ased triage of HPV-positive women and timely treatment of precancerous lesions, following a screen–triage–treat strategy. Since 2014, we have worked in Ethiopia, Kenya, Cambodia and Namibia, and more than 15,600 women have been screened in our programs so far.

Advanced digital technologies are central to our work. A cloud-based platform connects every step of the screening process, from the village to the laboratory, and makes sure no woman is lost along the way. Building on this, we are developing AI tools that support clinicians in assessing colposcopy images and pathologists in assessing tissue slides, where specialists are often scarce.

Equally important is strengthening sustainable local capacity. We train healthcare professionals, mentor early-career researchers and facilitate clinical exchanges between Germany and our partner countries to foster self-reliance and enable screening programs to be sustainable and expand locally.

Our goal is to translate successful pilot studies into sustainable, nationwide screening programs. To get there, we work with partners from research, industry and global health who share our conviction: every woman counts.

More information: www.eticcs.org