Introduction
Across Asia-Pacific, cancer screening programmes vary widely in scope and maturity. In 2024–2025, 28 countries contributed structured data to the IARC CanScreen5 platform, which supports ministries and programme stewards to standardise data collection and quality assurance in alignment with the WHO Cervical Cancer Elimination Strategy and the WHO Global Breast Cancer Initiative. This abstract synthesises the organisation and quality elements of cervical, breast, colorectal, and lung cancer screening programmes reported by national teams.
Methods
Participating countries submitted qualitative information against CanScreen5 “essential” and “desirable” elements for governance, service delivery, information systems, and quality assurance. Submissions were compiled into country factsheets and reviewed for consistency.
Results
Cervical cancer: Most countries have established or are introducing HPV-based screening, though VIA and cytology remain common in several settings.
Breast cancer: Organised mammography-based screening is present in a minority of countries; clinical breast examination is more widely used.
Colorectal cancer: FIT-based screening is implemented in a few countries, with others piloting or planning programmes.
Lung cancer: No country has a fully organised programme; activity is limited to pilots or research.
Common gaps include limited invitation systems, incomplete electronic tracking, and inconsistent quality assurance.Conclusions
Asia-Pacific screening programmes show progress, especially for HPV-based cervical and mammography-based breast screening, but many systems require strengthening in invitation mechanisms, interoperable information systems, registry linkage, and routine performance reporting. CanScreen5 data and capacity-building continue to help countries close these gaps and advance toward WHO targets.