Burden of HPV infection

Across countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region (as defined by UNAIDS), between 0.2% and 13.9% of people are estimated to have HPV, which causes approximately 70% of invasive cervical cancers.¹

Link between HPV infection and cancer

Human papillomavirus (HPV), which is sexually transmitted, is the most common viral infection of the reproductive tract. Most sexually active women and men will be infected at some point in their lives and some may be repeatedly infected.

There are many types of HPV, and many do not cause problems. However, certain types of HPV can persist and progress to cancer. Cervical cancer is by far the most common HPV-related disease. Nearly all cases of cervical cancer can be attributable to HPV infection.⁴

Burden of cervical cancer

Cervical cancer causes at least 7,601 deaths among women annually in the MENA region (as defined by UNAIDS). Between 2012 and 2018, the number of deaths every year due to cervical cancer doubled in most countries in the region.^1,2 If decisive action is not taken at the national and regional levels, annual deaths due to the preventable disease will double again by 2040, reaching 15,728 deaths per year.³ In the region, at least 11,202 women are newly diagnosed with cervical cancer each year.

Across the MENA region, incidence and mortality rates vary. For example, Somalia and Morocco have the highest incidence and mortality rates, with 24.0 and 17.2 women per 100,000 being newly diagnosed with cervical cancer annually and at least 21.9 and 12.6 women per 100,000 dying due to cervical cancer per year, respectively. Whereas Iran, Iraq and Yemen have the lowest (around 2 per 100,000 women are diagnosed per year and about 1 per 100,000 die because of cervical cancer annually).²