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rise with age (Fig. 1). The incidence of cervical cancer in the lation based network for early detection and treatment of cervical cancer precursors, with a public health cost that (HPV), the known etiologic agent of cervical cancer. It is too continue to develop cervical cancer. The incidence rates in Western Europe continue to show a bimodal age distribution of Gynecologic Oncology 103to date. In countries with screening, the target of preventive efforts has shifted from cervical cancer detection to the diagnosis and treatment of cancer precursor lesions. However, the morpholo-gic basis of the screening test cannot be substantially improved, inherently diminishing the accuracy for precursor lesion diagnosis. In these countries, a false negative Pap test occurs in 30 % of all cervical cancers diagnosed and another 10 % is attributable to errors in following up abnormal cytology reports. group around 60 years (Fig. 2). Mortality to cervical cancer increases steadily with age and represents about half of the incidence. It has been estimated that in Western Europe, some 30,000 new cases per year are diagnosed and about 15,000 deaths still occur. The behaviours of women, besides the limitations of the test itself, also contribute to the continued incidence of cervical cancer. In the US, half of all women who develop cervical cancer have never had a Pap test; and another 10 % did notsupersedes any other successful preventive program developed those around 30 years of age and another equally prominentdecades to come might in fact increase in developing countries due to the aging of the population and the persistent absence of adequate screening programs. The success of these programs requires repeated testing over a woman's lifetime and a popu-early in adoption of these strategies to determine whether they are truly an improvement in public health costs and disease detection. In spite of screening efforts, women in developed countriesRapid Com Prevention strategies of cervic