# Eliminate infection-caused cancers: HPV, hepatitis B and C, H. pylori and EBV

Source: https://onco.cc/ideas/idea-moon-eliminate-infection-cancers/  
OnCo record `idea-moon-eliminate-infection-cancers` (Idea). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

About one in eight cancers is caused by an infection we can vaccinate against, cure or eradicate. A concerted global programme could make those cancers rare within a generation.

## Summary

HPV vaccination and screening (WHO cervical elimination strategy), universal hepatitis B birth-dose vaccination, hepatitis C cure with direct-acting antivirals, Helicobacter pylori screen-and-treat (with randomised evidence of gastric cancer reduction) and an EBV vaccine now in early trials together address cancers responsible for millions of cases annually, concentrated in low- and middle-income countries. The proposal is a single financed elimination programme with country targets, pooled procurement, integrated delivery through existing immunisation and primary care platforms, and registry-based tracking of incidence.

## Fields

- Kind: Idea
- Last checked: 2026-09-08
- Hypothesis: Coordinated delivery achieves WHO cervical elimination targets in participating countries and reduces the combined incidence of liver, gastric and cervical cancer by half by 2050.
- Rationale: Every component has proven efficacy; the failure is organisational and financial. Elimination programmes for polio and measles show what coordinated financing achieves.
- Proposed test: Fund full-package implementation in five high-burden countries and compare cancer incidence trajectories against matched countries over ten years, with coverage metrics as leading indicators.
- Maturity: being-tested-at-scale
- Actor: policy

## Sources

- WHO cervical cancer elimination initiative: https://www.who.int/initiatives/cervical-cancer-elimination-initiative
- Gavi: https://www.gavi.org/

## Connected records

- cancers: [Cervical cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/cervical/), [Gastric & gastro-oesophageal junction cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/gastric/), [Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/head-and-neck/), [Hepatocellular carcinoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/hcc/)
- technologies: [HPV & HBV vaccination](https://onco.cc/technologies/hpv-vaccine/)
- institutions: [International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC / WHO)](https://onco.cc/institutions/iarc/)
- bottlenecks: [Most of the world has almost no cancer care](https://onco.cc/bottlenecks/b-global-access/), [Prevention we already have is not deployed](https://onco.cc/bottlenecks/b-prevention-adoption/)
- roadmaps: [Cancer prevention roadmap: tobacco control and vaccines → biomarker-guided chemoprevention → interception in carriers](https://onco.cc/roadmaps/prevention-roadmap/)

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