Implementation period: November 2024 to August 2026

Presentation and description:

United for the Elimination of Cervical Cancer in Brazil project aims at contributing to the elimination of women’s mortality from cervical cancer. According to data from the National Institute of Cancer (INCA) from 2022, this type of cancer is the second most common among women in the Northeast region of Brazil (17.59/100,000), making it the second highest incidence rate for the disease among the five Brazilian regions. 

Through health promotion, prevention and early detection actions with an intelligent use of data and technology, the initiative strengthens Primary Health Care (APS) – a series of basic health care services considered to be the gateway to the Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS). 

First HPV Solutions Workshop held by the program at the end of 2024. Credit: Grupo Mulheres do Brasil (Brazilian Women Group).

The program acts locally through three main objectives:

1. Increasing HPV vaccine coverage 

Integrated actions between education and health aim to intensify vaccination in schools, using families’ digital consent as a way of optimizing the operation.

2. Increasing cervical cancer screening coverage 

By encouraging and guiding adoption of the HPV-DNA test, in accordance with the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) recommendation of 2021, and by expanding active search and encouraging intelligent scheduling of screening tests for the virus. 

3. Ensuring continuity of care

By expanding active search and intelligent scheduling actions, with the aim of guaranteeing continuity of care for women with altered tests, especially for risk groups.

Beneficiary description:

The beneficiaries of this project are the Municipal Health Departments of 10 cities in the state of Ceará. A total of 144 Basic Health Units (UBS), 997 community health agents and 390 family health teams will be covered. 

Municipalities served:

Ceará: Apuiarés, Caucaia, General Sampaio, Itapajé, Paracuru, Paraipaba, Pentecoste, São Gonçalo do Amarante, São Luís do Curu and Tejuçuoca. 

To access the interactive map with the municipalities benefiting from the Program, click here.

The project is supported by Together for Health, an initiative by the National Bank of Economic and Social Development (BNDES), in partnership with private donors, to gather resources to expand healthcare access for the Brazilian population in the North and Northeast regions of the country.

Executor

Grupo Mulheres do Brasil (translated freely to Brazilian Women Group) is a Civil Society Organization created in 2013 by 40 women from different segments, with the aim of engaging civil society in achieving improvements for the country. It is a non-partisan group whose aim is to defend women’s interests and promote women’s protagonism, to guarantee the achievement of effective equal rights for women and men, and to increase women’s participation in all decision-making spaces. It works in various areas of interest to the country and in the health area its basic premise is to appraise and strengthen the  Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS), through actions aimed at engaging civil society, other social organizations, business people and public authorities. 

Supporters

The National Bank of Economic and Social Development (BNDES) is a federal public company linked to the Ministry of Development, Industry, Trade and Services. It is the Federal Government’s main instrument for long-term financing and investment in all segments of the Brazilian economy, with the aim of improving the lives of generations, promoting economic, social and environmental development. It operates throughout the country, from its office in Rio de Janeiro (RJ), where its activities are concentrated, with official headquarters in Brasília (DF) and regional offices in São Paulo (SP) and Recife (PE).

Umane is an independent, non-partisan and non-profit civil society organization that promotes initiatives in the field of public health with the aim of contributing to a more resolute Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS) and improving the quality of life of people living in Brazil. Umane operates through three programs: Comprehensive Care for Chronic Non-Communicable Diseases (DCNT), with initiatives to control risk factors, screening, expanding access to health and monitoring risk factors in Primary Health Care; Strengthening of Primary Health Care (APS) as the coordinator of care in SUS, through support for initiatives aimed at improving operations, team productivity, integration of services and the incorporation of new technologies into the health system; and the Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health program, funding programs that track and monitor unfavorable outcomes during pregnancy and health conditions of children and adolescents in the context of Chronic Non-Communicable Diseases and risk factors.

Manager

IDIS – Institute for the Development of Social Investment, is a civil society organization founded in 1999 and pioneer in technical support to social investors in Brazil. With the mission to inspire, support and promote strategic philanthropy and its impact, they serve individuals, families, companies, corporate and family run institutes and foundations, as well as with civil society organizations, in actions that transform realities and contribute to the reduction of social inequality in the country. Their actions are based on the tripod of generating knowledge, offering advisory and developing social impact projects that contribute to the strengthening of the ecosystem of strategic philanthropy and of giving culture.

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