Integrazione tra vaccinazione e screening di popolazione

Cervical cancer is the most common cause of death from cancer for women in low-income countries and is increased within high-income countries for women who have decreased access to health care. Disease trend studies based on birth cohort analysis and serological studies indicate that recent generations have a higher prevalence of oncogenic Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) types, and are likely to be at higher risk of cancer than previous generations. HPV is a sexually communicable disease for which the burden of death and disability falls disproportionately on women. HPV subtypes 16 and 18 are the proximate cause of 70% of cervical cancer worldwide with regional patterns that include multiple other oncogenic subtypes. Cervical cancer is now a virtually preventable disease through a combination of early vaccination and screening strategies to identify and treat preinvasive disease. This implies that prevention strategies to protect young and older populations from HPV-associated cancers need to be strengthened, and hence organized implementation of vaccination and better screening programs are being considered. In this context, large-scale evaluations will be effective in accelerating disease control and improve effective prevention programs