TogetHER for Health is a global partnership igniting the movement to end cervical cancer everywhere around the world. We are driving awareness, supporting catalytic programs, and fighting for the political and financial resources needed to end this disease. We gathered on May 11th as part of our Race to None campaign to celebrate this important work and all the people who play a role in this partnership.
On May 11th, we honored one person in particular: Dr. Isabel C. Scarinci, Ph.D., M.P.H., the first-ever recipient of TogetHER for Health's Trailblazer of the Year Award.
Dr. Scarinci acts as Vice-Chair for Global and Rural Health at the University of Alabama at Birmingham's Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. She is also the Senior Advisor for Globalization and Cancer, O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
We celebrated Dr. Isabel Scarinci's incredible contributions at our fifth-anniversary celebration on Wednesday, May 11th. Please consider a gift to TogetHER for Health in honor of this incredible woman and our shared commitment to ending cervical cancer!
Her commitment to improving the health of underserved populations and changing behavior at the population level has touched thousands of lives. In no area has her work been more impactful than in the area of cervical health, a focus that began before the human papillomavirus (HPV) had even been identified as the primary cause of cervical cancer. She is passionate about scaling evidence-based cervical cancer prevention interventions (HPV vaccinations and cervical screening and treatment) toward the ultimate goal of eliminating cervical cancer as a global public health problem for all time.
Dr. Scarinci's dedication was sparked by her childhood experience with polio, a formerly endemic disease that is now on the verge of eradication thanks to effective vaccines. "In 1963, the goal of eliminating (polio) seemed to be unachievable," she tells TogetHER. "Today, in 2022 just as in 1963, we have the tools to fight another devastating but preventable disease and it will be critical to leverage our collaborations at multiple levels and establish new ones."