Renewed cervical screening: what the early results tell us

An estimated 570 000 women were diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2018, and its incidence and mortality are particularly high in low and middle income countries. In Australia, the incidence of cervical cancer has plummeted since the national screening program was introduced in the early 1990s. More recently, the national human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination program for teenage girls and boys was followed by a reduction in the proportion of women with high grade dysplasia and an increase in the age at which such pathology is detected, reflecting the positive health impacts of the program. The elimination of cervical cancer as a public health problem and the associated premature mortality is an exciting but realistic prospect.