Abstract:
Cervical carcinoma is still the most common cancer of women
on the African continent. Mortality remains high – worldwide at
50% – mainly because of late presentation, advanced stage of
disease and absence of a functioning screening process. The
aetiological link between human papillomavirus (HPV) infection
and cervical cancer has been well established and a number of
high-risk HPV genotypes have been identified. HPV infection is
the most common sexually transmitted infection (STI) in the world
today – up to 80% of sexually active females will harbour HPV at
some point in their lives. The majority of women will experience
natural elimination of HPV infection because of an intact immune
system. Persistent infection with a high risk type HPV puts women
at high risk to develop precursors of cervical cancer or carcinoma
itself. As part of a public health response to this serious problem,
several HPV vaccines are under development. Use of vaccines still
poses unanswered questions in many respects.
