Prevention committee

The ESGO Prevention Committee is a group of field experts and their research teams, working in the prevention of gynaecological cancers with geographical representation across Europe.

Established in 2019 to fulfil the ESGO vision: Best treatment and prevention in gynaecological cancer, the ESGO Prevention Committee connects more than 70 experts in vaccination, screening, colposcopy, and treatment of pre-invasive disease.

Apart from scientific work, the Prevention Committee also organises webinars & virtual conferences on prevention-related topics. Visit the ESGO Prevention Webinars website to learn more about the webinars we organise.

Prof. Elmar Joura chairs the Committee since February 2026. The first chair and founder of the Committee was Prof. Murat Gultekin.

Committee Motto

Filling the scientific gap by providing scientific evidence on topics related to prevention and treatment of pre-invasive disease
Bridging the East and the West by sharing the expertise of ESGO professionals with colleagues in Lower and Middle Income Countries via virtual conferences, webinars, and on-site screening pilot projects

Committee Goals

Facilitate systematic research, issue scientific publications, and disseminate findings in the prevention and treatment of pre-invasive diseases.
Raise public and governmental awareness and advocate about gynaecological cancers, their prevention and treatment through ENGAGe.
Collaborate with professional societies, patient advocacy organisations, policymakers and other stakeholders to advance gynaecological cancers prevention and care.
Contribute to cervical cancer elimination in Europe in line with the WHO elimination programme 2030. Decrease mortality and extend life of gynaecological cancer patients in line with the EU Beat the cancer plan.

Committee Structure

Prevention Committee Chair: Elmar Joura

Prevention Committee Members:

Frederic Amant, Marc Arbyn, Nicolo Bizzarri, Daniela Fischerova, Mihaela Grigore, Murat Gültekin, Vesna Kesic, Maria Kyrgiou, Claudia Marchetti, Zoltan Novak, Mario Preti, Jalid Sehouli, Nikolaos Thomakos, Ignacio Zapardiel

Patient expert: Icó Tóth

Prevention network:

Utku Akgor, Nagham Abraheem Mahdi, Henri Azais, Esat Bilal, Federica Bevilacqua, Sarah Bowden, Laia Bruni, Laura Burney Ellis, Murat Cengiz, Kimon Chatzistamatiou, Volkan Hasan Ege, Houssein El Hajj, Niccolo Gallio, Omar Gassama, Livia Giordano, Charlotte Goutallier, Dimitrios Haidopulos, Reda Hemida, Ermina Iljazovic, Nicolo Gallio, Joana Kacperczyk-Bartnik, André Boris Kind, Belen Lopez, Edina Lukacs, Nermean Mostafa, Anita Mitra, Nagham Ibraheem Mahdi, Afraa Mahjoob Al-Naddawi, Gadelkareem Nassar, Sara Nasser, Vasilios Pergialiotis, Milena Perišič, Patrick Petignat, Alejandra Picconi, Jurgen Piek, Deepali Raina, Sofia Raposo, Eva-Maria Niine-Roolaht, Zoia Razumova, Jalid Sehouli, Aleksandra Shavrova, Rita Sousa, Alexndra Strojna, Nadja Taumberger, Vasilios Theodoulidis, Charalampos Theofanakis, Andreas Ullrich, Zvi Vaknin, Alexandra Wagner

The ESGO Prevention network is open to all experts in the field. If you would like to be a part of it and shape the future scientific and educational projects within ESGO, sign up!

Join the ESGO Prevention Network

Committee Publications

Publications 2026 Publications 2025 Publications 2024 Publications 2023 Publications 2022 Publications 2021 Publications 2020 Publications 2019

Publications 2026

Prophylactic HPV Vaccination in Gynaecological Practice: Recommendations, Practices, and Challenges Reported in the ESGO-PERCH HPV Survey, J. Kacperczyk-Bartnik et. al., published in Vaccines, March 2026
Opportunistic Salpingectomy for Prevention of Tubo-Ovarian Carcinoma: The European Society of Gynaecological Oncology Consensus Statements, J. Piek et. al., published in the JAMA Journal, February 2026
Human Papillomavirus in Reproductive Health and Pregnancy: Clinical Implications, Outcomes, and a Comprehensive Review of Vaccination, V. H. Ege et. al., published in Vaccines, February 2026
New HPV Vaccines on the Market and Future Trends: A State-of-the-Art Review, U. Akgor et. al., published in Vaccines, January 2026
HPV Exposure in the Gynecological Practice: Time to Call It an Occupational Disease? A Systematic Review of the Literature and ESGO Experts’ Opinion, H. V. Ege et. al., published in Vaccines, January 2026

Publications 2025

Prediction of Treatment Failure After Excisional Treatment of Cervical Precancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis, M. Arbyn et. al., published in the Green Journal, September 2025
Implementing High-Risk Human Papillomavirus Self-Sampling for Cervical Cancer Screening in Ghana: A Study (CarciSCAN) Protocol, N. Taumberger et. al., published in Cancer Control, April 2025
Active surveillance of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 2: 2025 British Society of Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology and European Society of Gynaecologic Oncology consensus statement, M. Kyrgiou et. al., published in Lancet Oncology, March 2025
Vulvar inspection at the time of cervical cancer screening: European Society of Gynaecological Oncology (ESGO), International Society for the Study of Vulvovaginal Disease (ISSVD), European College for the Study of Vulval Disease (ECSVD), and European Federation for Colposcopy (EFC) consensus statement, M. Preti et. al., published in International Journal of Gynecologic Cancers, January 2025

Publications 2024

Prophylactic HPV vaccination in HPV-related gynecologic cancers: European Society of Gynaecological Oncology (ESGO) prevention committee opinion, N. Bizzarri et.al., published in International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics, December 2024
Advancing cervical cancer prevention in Africa: ESGO’s strategic initiatives and collaborative efforts, H. El Hajj et. al., published in IJGC Corners of the world, September 2024
Criteria for second generation comparator tests in validation of novel HPV DNA tests for use in cervical cancer screening, M. Arbyn et. al., published in Wiley Journal of Medical Virology, August 2024
Validated HPV tests usable in cervical cancer screening on clinician-collected cervical specimens, M. Arbyn et. al., published in HPV World, July 2024
UPDATE of the ESGO-ISSVD-EFC-ECSVD Consensus statement on the management of pre-invasive vulvar lesions, M. Preti et. al., published as a joint publication in IJGC and LJGTD, June 2022 with additional graphs

Publications 2023

Genital tract microbiota composition profiles and use of prebiotics and probiotics in gynaecological cancer prevention: review of the current evidence, the European Society of Gynaecological Oncology prevention committee statement, The European Society of Gynaecological Oncology (ESGO) Prevention Committee Statement. M. Kyrgiou, December 2023, published in Lancet Microbe

ESGO EFC European Consensus Statement on Expert Colposcopy, published in the European Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology, August 2023
The European Society of Gynaecological Oncology (ESGO), the International, Society for the Study of Vulvovaginal Disease (ISSVD), the European College for the Study of Vulval Disease (ECSVD), and the European Federation for Colposcopy (EFC) consensus statement on the management of vaginal intraepithelial neoplasia, published in IJGC and LJGTD. V. Kesic, March 2023
ESGO Prevention Committee opinion: is a single dose of HPV vaccine good enough? Society statement, published in IJGC, M. Onur Kamani, March 2023
Quality assurance in human papillomavirus testing for primary cervical screening, published in IJGC, M. Cuschieri, February 2023

Publications 2022

ESGO-ISSVD-EFC-ECSVD Consensus statement on the management of pre-invasive vulvar lesions, M. Preti, published as a joint publication in IJGC and LJGTD, June 2022
Accuracy and effectiveness of HPV mRNA testing in cervical cancer screening: a systematic review and meta-analysis, M. Arbyn, published in Lancet Oncology, June 2022
Myths and Fake Messages about HPV Vaccination: Answers from the ESGO Prevention Committee, N. Taumberger, published in IJGC
Terminology for cone dimensions after local conservative treatment for cervical intraepithelial neoplasia and early invasive cervical cancer: 2022 consensus recommendations from ESGO, EFC, IFCPC, and ESP, M. Kyrgiou, published in Lancet Oncology

Publications 2021

ESGO/EFC/IFCPC/ESP Terminology for dimensions of cone after local conservativetreatment for cervical intra-epithelial neoplasia and early invasive cervical cancer, M. Kyrgiou Accepted for publication in Lancet Oncology.
ESGO list of HPV assays that can be used for cervical cancer screening, M. Arbyn, M. Gultekin.
Gynaecologic oncology on the global health agenda: A wake-up call. Gynaecologic Oncology.

Publications 2020

2020 list of human papillomavirus assays suitable for primary cervical cancer screening, Clinical Microbiology and Infection.
Tackling cervical cancer in Europe amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, The Lancet.
World Health Organization call for action to eliminate cervical cancer globally, International Journal of Gynaecological Cancer.
Patient engagement in research on rare gynaecological tumours, International Journal of Gynaecological Cancer.
European Federation for Colposcopy (EFC) and European Society of Gynaecological Oncology
(ESGO) joint considerations about human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination, screening programs, colposcopy, and surgery during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, International Journal of Gynaecological Cancer.
HPV Vaccination: The Position Paper of the Italian Society of Colposcopy and Cervico-Vaginal Pathology (SICPCV), ESGO involvement
Effective approaches towards eliminating cervical cancer from low-and middle-income countries amid COVID-19 pandemic, International Journal of Gynaecological Cancer.
The European response to the WHO call to eliminate cervical cancer as a public health problem, International Journal of Cancer.
Cervical screening: ESGO-EFC position paper of the European Society of Gynaecologic Oncology (ESGO) and the European Federation of Colposcopy (EFC), British Journal of Cancer.
European consensus statement on essential colposcopy, European Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Reproductive Biology.
ESGO contribution to the WHO initiative on elimination of cervical cancer, International Journal of Gynaecological Cancer.
Perspectives, fears and expectations of patients with gynaecological cancers during the COVID-19 pandemic: A Pan-European study of the European Network of Gynaecological Cancer Advocacy Groups (ENGAGe), Wiley, Cancer Medicine.

Publications 2019

Webinars

Visit the ESGO Prevention Webinars website to learn more about the webinars we organise.

All Prevention Committee webinars are available on the eAcademy portal

Click on the link to see them all.

Cooperation with key stakeholders

World Health Organization has launched ''Cervical Cancer Elimination Program'' on November 19, 2020.

The program asks the countries to vaccinate the girls under 15 years of age (90% coverage), to screen females by minimal two times when they are 35 and 45 (70%) coverage and to treat the lesions detected appropriately (in 90% of cases).

Modelling studies show that if all countries can implement the program until 2030 and can achieve these targets, there will be a 30% reduction in cervical cancer mortality by 2030 and the cervical cancer may be eliminated until the end of this century (namely incidence less than 4 \ 100.000).

ESGO Prevention committee has joined in to fulfil the WHO cervical cancer elimination strategy as a leading European actor in prevention.