WELCOME
| Dear Colleagues, It is our great pleasure to invite you to take part in the International Workshop on Human Papillomaviruses and Consensus Recommendations for Cervical Cancer Prevention which will take place in Dubrovnik-Cavtat, Croatia, from April 18 through 21, 2007. This workshop is organized by the Rudjer Boskovic Institute, the Croatian Society for Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology, the Croatian Society for Clinical Cytology, the European Cervical Cancer Association, and the International Papillomavirus Society. The area of cervical cancer prevention is developing at a staggering pace; we now have a recommendation from the Council of the European Union that all member states should implement organised cervical cancer screening programmes, we have six large-scale randomised controlled trials on the use of HPV testing for primary screening that will soon be publishing their results, and we have prophylactic HPV vaccines that are now becoming available in Europe. Together, these developments will revolutionise cervical cancer prevention. Although the mainstay of cervical cancer prevention of the foreseeable future will remain the organised cervical cancer screening, the nature of these programmes, both in the way they are organised and the way that women are followed-up will need to evolve in keeping with the scientific evidence if we are to provide the best protection against cervical cancer. This is not only a public health imperative but also an ethical obligation on the part of all who are involved in the prevention of this cancer. The aim of this workshop is to bring together the leading experts in all areas of cervical cancer prevention to present the latest research findings on cervical cancer screening, HPV testing and HPV vaccination, to discuss how these results will impact on cervical cancer prevention practices and to develop consensus recommendations for implementation of these new technologies within the context of the organised cervical cancer screening programmes that have been called for by the Council of the European Union. As an additional attraction, the conference has been set in an exceptional location. Cavtat, and the neighbouring city of Dubrovnik, possess a unique beauty due to their physical setting between the Adriatic Sea and the surrounding mountains and due to its rich historical heritage. We sincerely hope that we will be able to welcome you to this exciting conference and to Dubrovnik-Cavtat in April of 2007.
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