Qiagen acts to eradicate cervical cancer

Qiagen used the 14th annual Global Summit of Women to launch a campaign to eliminate cervical cancer.

At the event, the firm’s chief executive Peer Schatz called on businesses, NGOs and governments to join him and create a cervical-cancer-free world.

"Nearly 500,000 women around the world are diagnosed with cervical cancer every year -a shocking number considering that it’s a highly preventable disease," he told ministers at the event.

Mr Schatz urged his audience to join him and commit to help the summit’s Global Consortium of Women to End Cervical Cancer eradicate the disease.

The firm has developed the only Food and Drug Administration and European Union-approved test for high-risk types of the virus such as human papillomavirus.

According to the organisers, the summit brings together more than 1,000 senior-level women from business, government and sponsors.

Qiagen claims to be the leading provider of sample and assay technologies, it has developed more than 500 consumable products and employs 2,600 people in over 30 locations worldwide.