Cancer: Serie A Women and MSD unite to prevent HPV-related cancers

The multinational company will be Premium Partner for the next football season

Serie A Women is proud to welcome MSD Italia, a multinational biopharmaceutical company and world leader in the Life Sciences sector, as a Premium Partner for the upcoming football season. This collaboration between Italy's top professional women's league and MSD Italia goes beyond sporting aspects and aims to achieve a higher public health goal, raising awareness of HPV-related cancer prevention through a series of initiatives that will be offered throughout the championship, which kicks off tomorrow, Saturday, October 4th, and will feature 12 clubs.

The world of football and sport has always been synonymous with well-being and is part of good prevention practices: it was therefore a natural fit to join forces to promote prevention against HPV, a virus that can cause precancerous lesions and potentially fatal tumors in men and women.

"I firmly believe that women's football should convey positive messages," said Serie A Women President Federica Cappelletti. "And, among the messages we want to convey, starting today is one related to the prevention of HPV-related cancers, understood as understanding the diseases and protecting men's and women's health through good prevention practices. This is why we are delighted to be able to count on such a prestigious and cross-cutting partner as MSD, which contributes to the growth of culture and the dissemination of knowledge in the healthcare, scientific, social, and cultural fields around the world."

"Football has always been a great passion for Italians, and collaborating with Serie A Women on a prevention campaign fills us with pride," said Nicoletta Luppi, President and CEO of MSD Italia. "This initiative represents a significant milestone in our commitment to preventing human papillomavirus (HPV), using innovative channels to reach an ever-wider audience. We have always supported our National Health Service and all stakeholders, with the goal of putting an end to HPV-related cancers, also through communication and awareness initiatives. We are convinced that this collaboration with Italy's top women's football league will bring us closer to winning the prevention game!"

With the championship kicking off on October 4th, the first initiative of this collaboration will be the "Save of the Month" award, which celebrates the role of the goalkeeper and will be chosen thanks to the Serie A Women community, rewarding the best technical move in blocking the ball. Serie A Women goalkeepers defend their own net from attackers' shots, just as HPV prevention can protect men and women from the virus and its consequences.