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Eastern Africa has the world's highest cervical cancer incidence and mortality rates. We used epidemiologic data from Kenya, Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zimbabwe to develop models of HPV-related infection and disease. For each country, we assessed HPV vaccination of girls before age 12 followed by screening with HPV DNA testing once, twice, or three times per lifetime (at ages 35, 40, 45). For women over age 30 we assessed only screening (with HPV DNA testing up to three times per lifetime or VIA at age 35). Assuming no waning immunity, mean reduction in lifetime cancer risk associated with vaccination ranged from 36-45%, and vaccination followed by screening once per lifetime at age 35 with HPV DNA testing ranged from 43-51%. For both younger and older women, the most effective screening strategy was HPV DNA testing three times per lifetime. Provided the cost per vaccinated girl was less than I$10 (I$2 per dose), vaccination had an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (I$ [international dollars]/year of life saved [YLS]) less than the country-specific per capita GDP, a commonly cited heuristic for “very cost-effective” interventions. If the cost per vaccinated girl was between I$10 (I$2 per dose) and I$25 (I$5 per dose), vaccination followed by HPV DNA testing would save the most lives and would be considered good value for public health dollars. These results should be used to catalyze design and evaluation of HPV vaccine delivery and screening programs, and contribute to a dialogue on financing HPV vaccination in poor countries.

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This study assessed the cost-effectiveness of a new, rapid human papillomavirus (HPV)-DNA screening test for cervical cancer prevention in the high-risk region of Shanxi, China. Using micro-costing methods, we estimated the resources needed to implement preventive strategies using cervical cytology or HPV-DNA testing, including the Hybrid Capture 2 (hc2) test (QIAGEN Corp., Gaithersburg, MD) and the rapid HPV-DNA careHPV TM test (QIAGEN). Data were used in a previously published model and empirically calibrated to country-specific epidemiological data. Strategies differed by initial test, targeted age, frequency of screening, number of clinic visits required (1, 2 or 3) and service delivery setting (national, county and township levels).Outcomes included lifetime risk of cancer, years of life saved (YLS), lifetime costs and incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (cost per YLS). For all screening frequencies, the most efficient strategy used 2-visit rapid HPV-DNA testing at the county level, including screening and diagnostics in the first visit, and treatment in the second visit. Screening at ages 35, 40 and 45 reduced cancer risk by 50% among women compliant with all 3 screening rounds, and was US$ 150 per YLS, compared with this same strategy applied twice per lifetime. This would be considered very cost-effective evaluated against China's percapita gross domestic product (US$ 1,702). By enhancing the linkage between screening and treatment through a reduced number of visits, rapid HPV-DNA testing 3 times per lifetime is more effective than traditional cytology, and is likely to be cost-effective in high-risk regions of China.Cervical cancer affects millions of individuals worldwide and is a leading cause of cancer death among women in developing countries. 1 Although China registers a low average incidence of cervical cancer compared to many other regions of the world, the overall burden is large due to the size of the country's population. Moreover, there is considerable heterogeneity in terms of risk, with cervical cancer mortality rates in poor provinces such as Shanxi and Gansu exceeding 30 cases per 100,000. 2 Data available from one survey indicate that the prevalence of carcinogenic types of human papillomavirus (HPV) is 20.8% among 35-to 50-year-old women. 3Since a national cervical cancer prevention program does not exist, most women have not been screened. 2 Cervical cancer has been reduced in countries able to implement organized secondary prevention programs that screen women with cytology at regular closely spaced intervals. 4 Unfortunately, the requirement for high-quality laboratory and cytotechnologist support, coupled with the need for multiple visits, has proven difficult to implement in lowresource settings. Screening approaches that use HPV-DNA testing may prove more practical when incorporated into strategies less dependent on existing laboratory infrastructure and requiring fewer visits. 5,6 Most recently, a randomized trial in Osmanabad district in India demonstrated a single round of HP...