Hi,
I am the immediate past Chair of the UK & Ireland Global Cancer Network, an independent not for profit NGO dedicated to acting as a liaison post, advocate and catalyst for innovative global cancer programmes. I am based in Oxford UK.
My interest in cervical cancer developed in 2017 while I was lead author drafting the Commonwealth policy paper on Commonwealth Collective Action on Cancer. I am currently a member of the Lancet Oncology Commission on Cancer in the Commonwealth.
There are two sorts of barriers that prevent uptake of screening and the timely treatment of cervical cancers. The first sort are external and societal. These include geographical distance; financial status; lack of opportunity; reduced access to care and insufficient or inefficient workforces. The second sort are internal and individual. These include having a low level of health literacy; a lack of knowledge and awareness about cervical cancer; a personal belief system affected by stigma and superstition; a dislike, fear or distrust of medical procedures and health care professionals; all of which increase the vulnerability to accepting misinformation.
We will need to overcome both sorts of barriers if we are to eliminate cervical cancer as a common cause of death for women.
Mark Lodge
Email: mlodge@canet.org
Mark Lodge
Commissioning Editor, Cancer Control 2026
Co-Chair, UK and Ireland Global Cancer Network
Prama House
267 Banbury Road
Oxford OX 2 7HT UK
Email mlodge@canet.org
URL https://www.ukgcn.org ; www.cancercontrol.info
HIFA profile: Mark Lodge is the Commissioning Editor for the annual Cancer Control [ https://www.cancercontrol.info/ ] and the immediate past Chair of the UK and Ireland Global Cancer Network (https://www.ukgcn.org/). He serves on the Lancet Oncology Commission on Cancer in the Commonwealth and is a member of the UK Working Group on NCDs. Previously he was the UK Director of the International Network for Cancer Treatment and Research. He lives in Oxford, UK. He is a member of the HIFA working group on cervical cancer. https://www.hifa.org/support/members/mark mlodge AT canet.org