A global modeling analysis published in The Lancet projects a widening divide in cervical cancer burden between high-income countries (HICs) and low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), unless prevention efforts are substantially intensified. Investigators evaluated age-standardized cervical cancer incidence across 67 LMICs and 42 HICs under current and enhanced prevention scenarios. Under the status quo, incidence in LMICs is projected to decline by only 23% over the next century, while HICs are expected to reach the elimination threshold of fewer than four cases per 100,000 women-years by 2048.
This divergence translates into a marked increase in inequality, with the incidence ratio between LMICs and HICs rising from 3 in 2022 to 12 by 2105. The analysis reinforces that nearly all cervical cancer cases are attributable to high-risk human papillomavirus infection, making vaccination…
