site.btaUPDATED Parliament Hosts Conference on Eliminating HPV Cancer

National Assembly Chair Nataliya Kiselova addressed Thursday the participants in the first regional conference entitled "A Shared Vision for South East Europe: Eliminating HPV (Human Papilloma Virus) Cancers Together". 

“The lack of screening to detect, diagnose and timely treat socially significant diseases is the next big challenge facing the healthcare system in Bulgaria,” she said. 

The forum, which is under Kiselova’s patronage, is organised by the European Cancer Organisation and the HPV-Bulgaria Coalition on the occasion of the European Cervical Cancer Prevention Week (January 20-26, 2025).

Bulgaria tops all negative European rankings in chronic non-communicable diseases, and unfortunately oncological diseases are no exception, Natalia Kiselova said. She noted that the average life expectancy here is the lowest in the whole EU, this country tops the charts for preventable mortality with prevention and good treatment, and Bulgarians spend significantly fewer years of life in good health than other European citizens.

The National Assembly Chair stressed that the implementation and development of comprehensive screening of socially significant diseases, including the causes of these diseases, is an inevitable and urgent measure to curb and minimize the negative trends in the health of citizens.

“The organization of the conference at the National Assembly is the result of the joint efforts of the chairmen of all parliamentary groups, which is proof that Bulgaria has the firm determination to tackle this health problem,” said Kostadin Angelov, Chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Healthcare, at the opening of the forum.

Minister of Health Silvi Kirilov noted that according to the World Health Organization, 30 to 50 percent of all malignant neoplasms are preventable through active prevention. Early detection is a prerequisite for reducing mortality, he stressed, adding that vaccination against human papilloma virus, prevention, diagnosis and treatment is the key to success in the fight against this disease.

The conference was attended by MPs, experts from Romania, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Albania, North Macedonia, Turkiye, Slovakia and Bulgaria.

The participants in the conference signed a Joint Memorandum "Message Beyond Borders" - a call to action aimed at eliminating HPV in Southeastern Europe. The signatories commit to work together to eliminate HPV-related diseases for everyone in the region, as stated in the preamble of the document.