Update

Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon (PRRR), an innovative partnership that works to expand the availability of vital cervical cancer screening, treatment and breast care education—especially for women living with HIV—was officially launched in Ethiopia by Roman Tesfaye, the First Lady of Ethiopia, in Addis Ababa on 11 February.

HIV-positive women are four to five times more likely to contract cervical cancer than their HIV-negative peers. In Ethiopia cervical cancer is the second most-common female cancer and is responsible for 16.5% of all cancer deaths among women.

With US$ 7.8 million in funding, working under the leadership of the Federal Ministry of Health, PRRR will roll out programmes to prevent, screen for and treat cervical cancer at 33 sites across the country.

Founded in 2011 by the George W. Bush Institute, the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, UNAIDS and Susan G. Komen, the partnership has helped to screen more than 100 000 women for cervical cancer in Botswana, United Republic of Tanzania and Zambia in the past three years.

UNAIDS has supported PRRR activities since the partnership’s inception, facilitating the active engagement of civil society and networks of women living with HIV in the implementation of PRRR activities. The lessons learned from the AIDS response have critical to decreasing the stigma and fear that can prevent women from seeking cervical cancer screening.