TORONTO — Shannon Pethick thought cervical cancer would be in Canada’s rear-view by now.

“It hurts my heart because we should be past this,” she said from her home in Saskatoon, reflecting on her diagnosis 15 years ago, at age 32.

But the latest Canadian Cancer Statistics report says the country may not reach its goal of eliminating cervical cancer by 2040.

Data published by the Canadian Cancer Statistics Advisory Committee shows a “concerning plateau” of cervical cancer rates, signalling Canada is moving in the wrong direction.

The World Health Organization set a global goal in 2018 of virtually eliminating this type of cancer, which is caused by the human papilloma virus, a common sexually transmitted infection, to fewer than four cases diagnosed per 100,000 females.

Canada was maki

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