Cervical cancer is the fourth most common form of cancer among women throughout the world. The number of new cases and the mortality rate could be reduced significantly through early detection. At the same time, there are only a few diseases that show such extreme differences between poor and rich countries. In middle and low-income countries, the mortality rate of cervical cancer is about ten times higher than in richer countries. This is why the World Health Organisation has been trying for a long time now to set up national screening programmes and to cure the preliminary forms of carcinoma with simple methods so that cancer is no longer able to develop.
The CHILI consortium is developing existing cervical cancer intervention programmes in low-income (developing) countries and is embedding the ELEVATE screening test, which was developed for richer countries, into local contexts. To achieve this, the study is taking into account the preferences of the population and the resources of the existing health care systems, before developing sustainable implementation strategies. The innovative prevention strategy will also be evaluated from a health economics perspective, as this is the only way to guarantee nationwide implementation and continuation after the project ends. The aim is to ensure that the innovative technology is affordable and will continue to be used in the long term.
The CHILI project is funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Framework Programme. Researchers from different disciplines (doctors, social scientists, economists, engineers, industrial partners) from Belgium, Germany, Portugal, Ethiopia, Cambodia, Mozambique, Uganda and Spain will work together over the next five years to make a sustainable contribution to the fight against cervical cancer in developing countries.
Further information
Information from the European Commission on the CHILI project
Project description, Ghent University
Contact at the University of Greifswald
Prof. Dr. Steffen Fleßa
Chair of General Business Administration and Health Care Management
Friedrich-Loeffler-Straße 70, 17489 Greifswald
Tel.: +49 3834 420 2477
steffen.flessauni-greifswaldde