Source: GAVI Alliance
Addressing the "To the Point" Plenary, GAVI CEO Dr Seth Berkley explained why vaccination today ensures young girls grow into healthy and fulfilled women tomorrow. Here's a quick guide to the key excerpts.

Equal access to vaccines

"This Tanzanian woman has cervical cancer. She was first misdiagnosed as having a sexually transmitted infection. Eighteen months later, she was told she had late stage cervical cancer. A widow with four kids, she had to sell her mattress to pay the bus fare for the 1,000 km journey from Mbeya to get treatments at the cancer hospital in Dar es Salaam. She told us that after radiotherapy, she hopes to go back home and see her kids."

"By the time I finish this presentation another five women will have died of cervical cancer. Over a quarter of a million women die from cervical cancer every year - most of them live in developing countries. Cervical cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in many countries, including those we support."

"In developing countries, we have a triple whammy: higher human papillomavirus (HPV) incidence, increased mortality and very limited HPV screening."

"Cervical cancer is preventable. Vaccines can protect against about 70% of cases by preventing human papilloma virus."

"HPV vaccines have been available since 2006. Over 40 countries have national immunisation programs of HPV vaccines. Most of the countries are wealthy nations - although the heaviest burden of death and incidence is in poorer countries."

Urgency: increasing the momentum

"Introducing the HPV vaccine is a key opportunity to reach girls at an important time in their lives. Many girls have only 2 chances of connecting with the health workers - as kids with immunisation and as mothers when they deliver."

"There has been huge demand from countries for HPV vaccines. Fifteen countries applied in 2012 for HPV demo project support and a further 15-20 are expected this year. We will see a dramatic acceleration. By 2020, more than 30 million girls in over 40 countries will be vaccinated."

"This month the first girl was vaccinated in Kenya with HPV vaccines supported by GAVI through demonstration projects. Another seven countries are going to follow over the next several months."

Opportunity to reach girls

"Vaccination is one of the most gender equitable public health interventions ever. GAVI supports the immunisation of about 60% of the girls born in the world"

"Vaccinating adolescent girls against HPV, is a terrific opportunity to leverage the wide reach of immunisation to deliver more health to girls. The HPV demo projects are integrating other interventions - like HIV AIDS information, ARH, nutrition, gender-based violence."

"At GAVI, we believe that everyone deserves the same access to immunisation and health services. It should not be about where they are born."

The future

"If we have healthy girls, we will have healthy women"

"Our goal is to have all girls and boys fully immunised. For post 2015 we're supporting the goal of having every child everywhere immunised against 12 diseases, making full use of the technology we have to protect future generations against preventable diseases."