In 2022, cervical cancer was the fourth most commonly occurring cancer among women globally and also the fourth leading cause of cancer deaths among women, accounting for around 662 000 new cases and around 349 000 deaths. It is the most common cancer in women in 25 countries, many of which are in sub-Saharan Africa. Even while recognizing varying incidence levels, cervical cancer can be eliminated as a public health problem, through the scale-up of the World Health Organization (WHO) Cervical Cancer Elimination Initiative. In May 2018, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of WHO, issued a call to action for the elimination of cervical cancer. In November 2020, the Director-General launched the Global Strategy to accelerate the elimination of cervical cancer.