The world's highest rate of HPV is in Columbia, which is a very promiscuous country. It has been shown that the younger a woman is the first time she starts having sex and the more partners she has increases her chance of developing HPV and possibly cervical cancer.

The good news is the incidence of cervical cancer has decreased by about 40% in the last decade and deaths have gone down by 50% over the last 15 years in the U.S. It may be that physicians are identifying individuals with the disease earlier with screening methods like the PAP smear. The increased use of condoms over the last two decades has helped to control the spread of HPV.

To achieve even more benefits from cervical cancer screening, better diagnostic tests are being developed. Right now, a physician takes a sample of cervical tissue and observes the cells under a microscope. If the cells appear normal, there is no problem, but if they have an unusual appearance, further testing is performed to determine if the cells are cancerous.

As you can imagine, a sensitive HPV test would be highly beneficial. With this test, a woman could find out if she is at high risk for cervical cancer and then she could be screened more often.

As mentioned before, cervical cancer rates for the U.S. are declining. However, in other countries the outlook is not faring as well. Worldwide, cervical cancer is one of the leading causes of death for women. Over 500,000 new cases/year are diagnosed. Seventy-nine percent of these new cases are in developing countries, while cervical cancer is not even in the top five in developed countries.

There are many factors involved with HPV and its link to cervical cancer. Included are sexual and reproductive factors, other viruses such as HIV and HSV (herpes simplex virus), smoking, diet, oral contraceptives and hormones. Additionally, education and income play a role. HPV is preventable through barrier contraceptives and circumcision so it seems as though cervical cancer could easily become a thing of the past with programs designed to educate people.