Good afternoon everybody, it's an honour to be here.

Seventy-one years ago, a grave injustice occurred, when a Black American woman with terminal cervical cancer went to hospital and had a biopsy taken without her permission.

Her name was Henrietta Lacks, and her life mattered.

The cells taken from Henrietta became the basis of groundbreaking research and technologies that are now used to prevent and treat the same cervical cancer that took Henrietta's life.

Many people have benefited from those cells - fortunes have been made, science has advanced, Nobel Prizes have been won and most importantly, many lives have been saved.

In 2018, I issued a call for coordinated action globally to eliminate cervical cancer.

Since then, notable progress has been made in many countries.

Yet more is needed.

Much like the injustice of Henrietta Lacks' story, disadvantaged women all over the world continue to face disproportionately higher incidence and mortality from cervical cancer.

If we are to realise our dream of eliminating this disease, the innovations created with Henrietta Lacks's cells must be available to all women.

Today, I have the privilege of appointing four members of her family as WHO Goodwill Ambassadors, to advocate for cervical cancer elimination.

Lawrence, Alfred, Victoria and Veronica - thank you for joining us in this fight.

It's an honour to welcome you to the WHO family, and we look forward to working with you to make cervical cancer history.

Thank you.