Cherished Colleagues, welcome to Monaco!

As the social order is torn asunder by civil unrest and its manifold causes, we are fortunate beyond measure to have this forum for the advancement of science and clinical practice. The chance to come together to learn from one another in a collegial environment is a gift, as is the opportunity to make headway against the suffering from HPV related cancers.

The assertion that with the introduction of the HPV vaccines there are no more important tasks before us could not be further from the truth! Screening will be with us for a very long time, but change and improvement is urgently required in the era of the vaccine. Vaccine hesitancy must be addressed, schedules refined and access improved. In the developing countries lack of access to screening and to prophylactic vaccines are ongoing problems. Consensus about how to proceed in each setting requires the most up to date information. Some of the discussion highlights that can inform improvements in practice include:

• New screening tools and tests
• Screening algorithms in the vaccine age and the role of specificity
• Management by risk comes of age: new understanding of what confers risk (test results are only one part!) and how to make reliable risk information available at the point of service
• Approaches to limit the harms of screening
• Rationale for the recent changes in recommended vaccine ages and schedules
• Understanding the effects of vaccination on precancer, type prevalence and screening recommendations.
• Countering the misinformation concerning vaccines identified by WHO as a threat to world health

There are exciting developments on the horizon: More specific triage of the HPV positive woman is essential and possible. Methods of service delivery are being pioneered. There is need for your compassion and your expertise in every resource setting! It is easy to view progress in these areas as glacial and the problems as overwhelming. But, seeing this vibrant community come back together to advance these noble goals is restorative.

Welcome to Monaco!