The human papillomavirus immunisation programme for girls aged 12 to 13 years gets under way this September. As nurses prepare to deliver it, Cathryn Hughes gives an overview of cervical cancer diagnosis and treatment and shows why cervical screening will still be essential

Worldwide cervical cancer is the second most common type of cancer in women. About 500,000 women are diagnosed and 250,000 die from the disease per year, the majority in the developing world (World Health Organization 2006). In the UK in 2004 more than 2,700 women were diagnosed and nearly 1,100 died (Cancer Research UK (CRUK) 2007). This equates to about seven women being diagnosed with cervical cancer and three dying from the disease every day in the UK. With the advent of cervical screening the incidence and mortality of this disease has significantly reduced in countries where there is ready access to cervical smear tests or a cervical screening programme.