A doctor prepares a dose of the HPV vaccine in Caracas, Venezuela. HPV vaccine completion in Canada has dropped drastically.YURI CORTEZ/AFP/Getty Images

Imagine if there were a vaccine that could prevent lung cancer. Health officials and doctors across this country would make every effort to give it to anyone and everyone.

Canadians, especially smokers, would line up around the block or sign their children’s school permission slips with barely a second thought. The scourge of cancer is painfully felt and sadly well known by virtually everyone. Doing one simple thing to avoid such suffocating hurt and suffering would be a no-brainer.

Just such a vaccine exists – to prevent cervical cancer. It is a miraculous medical advance. And yet, Canada is losing ground against a killer disease that should no longer exist.

After decades of decline driven by advances in testing and vaccines, overall cervical cancer mortality rates have plateaued, and are actually increasing for women ages 33 to 54. The disease, which killed about 400 people in 2023, is the fastest-growing cancer in Canada and the leading cause of cancer deaths for women between 25 and 35.

Cancer mortality rates fall across Canada, but........

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