The Know Daily - Wednesday 15 November 2023

_{Read in 5m 24s ∙ Listening to Måneskin}

Love a pub quiz? We have just five tickets remaining for our “pub” quiz next Wednesday eve at AllBright’s gorgeous space in central London (the price includes a welcome drink and everyone will leave with an incredible prize). Come with friends or solo - we can’t wait to meet our readers IRL 🥰

Campaigners have succeeded in saving the Bradford building, the birthplace of the Brontë sisters, after it went on sale earlier this year. More than £300,000 was raised from donations and grants, with further fundraising underway to turn the historic building in Thornton, Bradford, into a cultural and educational centre.

💉 Wiping out cervical cancer

Cervical cancer will be eliminated in England by 2040, the head of NHS England is announcing today.

What’s the story?
Around 3,200 women in England are diagnosed with cervical cancer each year, with those aged 30-34 most likely to be told they have the disease. However, 99.8% of cervical cancer cases are preventable, according to Cancer Research figures. 

Now Amanda Pritchard, the NHS England boss, is announcing to a conference of health leaders in Liverpool later today that the health service will get to a point where virtually no one gets cervical cancer within the next two decades. 

This is “thought to be the first time any NHS leader, senior doctor or health minister has hailed the possibility of banishing a form of cancer within a set time period”, said The Guardian.

Why is the NHS so confident about this?
Screening for and vaccination against the human papillomavirus (HPV), which causes 99% of cervical cancers, has already seen rates of the disease among women in their twenties fall by 87% since 2008. 

The jab is currently offered to all 12- or 13-year-olds, while smear tests (which check for abnormal cells) are regularly offered to all women between the ages of 25 and 64. The latest figures show that 87% of girls and 82% of boys have received the vaccine by the time they are 15, said The Times. 

Does more still need to be done to reach the target?
Yes - Pritchard believes that achieving the goal depends on boosting vaccination and screening rates. 

A suggestion for reaching this will be “by offering catch-up vaccinations in community settings, such as libraries, halls and sports venues in areas with particularly low uptake”, said The Guardian - similarly to how the Covid-19 vaccine was distributed during the pandemic.

Is there anything else I should know?
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the cancer will be eliminated when there is a very low rate of four cases per 100,000. Other countries are currently working towards this goal, with Australia on track to be the first country in the world to eliminate cervical cancer by 2035.