Recognizing Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center’s enduring commitment to addressing the inequities that perpetuate cervical cancer in South Florida and beyond, the World Health Organization (WHO) sday designated the University of Miami institution as the first WHO Collaborating Centre for Cervical Cancer Elimination.
Sylvester’s key role was announced during a virtual media conference, led by WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Ph.D., and Assistant Director-General Princess Nothemba Simelela, M.D., that commemorated the first anniversary of the global movement the WHO launched last Nov. 17 to eliminate cervical cancer. Though preventable and curable, the disease still kills more than 300,000 women around the world who usually lack access to the vaccines, screening tests, and treatments that would prevent, detect, or cure the disease in its early stages.
“The world is united to end cervical cancer, and the University of Miami is immensely proud to officially take a leading role in this ambitious and essential endeavor,” said President Julio Frenk, M.D., M.P.H., Ph.D. “From the crossroads of Latin America and the Caribbean to the persistence of disparities around the world, we are honored to expand our collaborations to address a cancer that humankind already has the tools to eliminate.”
Although cervical cancer disproportionately affects women in low- and middle-income countries, Stephen D. Nimer, M.D., director of Sylvester, noted that rates remain unacceptably high in marginalized communities across the United States. This includes pockets of Miami, where the multipronged approaches Sylvester has developed with local partners are slowly removing the barriers to prevention, detection, and treatment.
