Perspective of cervical cancer prevention and control in developing countries and areas

Abstract

Cervical cancer ranks the second common cancer in women, affecting women severely in developing countries. It is a critical issue to develop simple, rapid, accurate, safe, acceptable, and inexpensive screening tests which can be used in cervical cancer prevention programs in developing countries. Due to the shortage of funding and qualified cytological professionals in most developing countries, WHO has been actively promoting visual inspection with acetic acid/iodine solution (VIA/VILI) as the alternative approach to screening cervical cancer. After the discovery of a link between human papillomavirus (HPV) and cervical cancer, the HPV prophylactic vaccine and CareHPV test have been successfully developed. The cervical cancer will be the first cancer eliminated by the combination of vaccination, screening, early diagnosis and treatment.