With the support of PAHO, the British Virgin Islands’ health authorities have increasingly aligned local efforts with the global cervical cancer elimination strategy, which seeks to dramatically reduce cervical cancer through vaccination, screening, and treatment.  

The global strategy sets targets to vaccinate 90% of girls against human papillomavirus (HPV) by age 15, screen 70% of women using high-performance tests, and ensure that 90% of women with cervical disease receive appropriate treatment, all by 2030.  

In the British Virgin Islands, vaccination coverage for HPV was introduced in 2018 for girls only, using a two-dose schedule. Following its introduction, coverage remained very low, at about 2% of the target population. In 2023 under the leadership of the Minister of Health, the country intensified efforts through community outreach and awareness-raising activities and expanded the vaccination schedule to include boys, increasing national coverage among girls to 31%.

With PAHO’s support, training for health care providers on HPV vaccination and community engagement activities were conducted in 2024, contributing to a strengthened immunization program and coverage rates of 95% in 2024 and 93% in 2025. As a result of achieving high vaccination rates for two consecutive years, the British Virgin Islands’ success story was featured in a video for Vaccination Week in the Americas 2026.  

Credit: PAHO