European Women for HPV Testing

A front group set up by Burson-Marsteller.

Last December a group calling itself the European Women for HPV Testing sent letters to influential women asking for support. HPV, the sexually transmitted human papilloma virus, has been linked to cervical cancer.

The letter stated: 'Each year 12,800 European women die needlessly from cervical cancer, a slow-growing that is 100 per cent detectable and 100 per cent treatable if detected early enough.'

It wanted recipients to lend their support to a national screening test for HPV, described as the 'cause of this disease'.

Just as in other health campaigns, the group had its own logo - a flower - and a website listing all the high-profile members who had signed up to the campaign.

One recipient became suspicious of the letter - and passed it to The Observer - after noticing that the address of European Women for HPV Testing was a PO box in Brussels. The address was traced to a post office near the European Parliament. Counter staff had no knowledge of the campaign group and refused to reveal the identity of whoever set up the PO box, claiming it was secret. The letter was signed by Sara Johnsson, who was tracked down and found to be a full-time lobbyist in the Brussels office of Burson-Marsteller, close to the post office.

In the firm's European headquarters, chief executive Jeremy Galbraith admitted Burson-Marsteller had set the group up as a front for its lobbying campaign in 2001. He also confirmed it was funded by Digene - a long-standing client of the company. But Galbraith insisted it was done to raise awareness of the links between HPV and cervical cancer.

Galbraith said: 'We needed to differentiate cervical cancer from other types of cancers. Breast cancer campaigns get most of the attention... all they need to do is get a woman with breast cancer running a marathon in a bra, and they get their picture in the paper.' Digene's share price will rocket if its tests are accepted by governments on the Continent. It has put out a press release quoting support for its product from the European Women for HPV Testing, without revealing that it funds the group.

However, all of the celebrity backers contacted by The Observer , including Liz Hurley and Caprice, had never heard of the group - let alone admitting to being members, as its website claims. A spokesman for one of the women, Carol Smillie, said he would seek legal advice.