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Scientists from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) attended the 14th ZORA Educational Day in Slovenia to support the implementation of improved measures to prevent cervical cancer in the country. ZORA is the name of the cervical cancer screening programme in Slovenia, which has been active for more than 20 years and has been using cytology-based screening.
IARC scientists were present at the ZORA event to promote cervical cancer screening based on human papillomavirus (HPV) testing. The event was attended by about 400 high-level participants, including officials from the Ministry of Health of Slovenia, health-care providers, and representatives of the Institute of Oncology Ljubljana, the National Institute of Public Health, and the immunization task force. The IARC researchers also engaged with stakeholders to support the change in the target age group for initiating the proposed HPV-based screening programme.
The recommendations of the Expert Working Group of the European Commission Initiative on Cervical Cancer (EC-CvC), recently developed during meetings hosted by IARC, and the results of the single-dose HPV vaccination study, conducted by IARC, were presented at the event by IARC scientist Dr Partha Basu. The IARC delegation also participated in discussions about the procurement strategy for HPV testing kits for Slovenia and the plans for a pilot HPV-based screening programme.
