Summary
Cervical cancer, a preventable disease with a clearly defined natural history and caused by infection with high‐risk types of the human papillomavirus (HPV), remains the third commonest cancer affecting women globally. Over 85% of cases are diagnosed in developing countries where the case‐to‐fatality rate ranges between 75% and 80%. Secondary prevention of cervical cancer in low income countries has failed to control the disease that affects women at an average age of 45–55 years. Diagnostic and treatment facilities in developed countries, along with functional screening programmes have made cervical cancer a well‐controlled and relatively rare disease in countries with robust health systems. In poor countries, women present with late‐stage disease and in most cases the disease is inevitably fatal. The introduction of new screening technologies and HPV vaccination offer new hope for the control of this common, yet preventable, disease.