Cervical Cancer in Asia/Pacific

Across the Asia/Pacific region, 268,000 women every year are diagnosed with cervical cancer and 144,000 will die from the disease.  This accounts for over 50% of the total number of cases of cervical cancer and deaths from the disease worldwide (Ferlay et al 2004).

(Reference: Ferlay et al 2004)

The prevalence of cervical cancer varies across the Asia/Pacific region.  For example, the 1-year prevalence in India is 20.2 women per 100,000.  This figure is lower in the Philippines (12.5 per 100,000) and Thailand (15.6 per 100,000).  In contrast, cervical cancer is significantly less prevalent in Japan (9.9 per 100,000) and Australia (6.9 per 100,000) (derived from Ferlay et al 2004).  Regional differences in prevalence are thought to be due to the presence or absence of organised cervical screening programmes or problems with access to these programmes in rural areas (Vallabhan 2005). 

The highest age-standardised incidences of cervical cancer are again seen in countries such as India (30.7 cases per 100,000 women per year), the Philippines (20.9 per 100,000) and Thailand (19.8 per 100,000), with the lowest rates in countries such as Japan (8.0 per 100,000) and Australia (6.9 per 100,000) (Ferlay et al 2004). 

(Reference: Ferlay et al 2004)

Age-standardised mortality rates show a similar pattern to prevalence and incidence rates, with high rates of deaths from cervical cancer in India (17.8 deaths per 100,000 women per year), the Philippines (15.6 per 100,000) and, to a lesser extent, Thailand (8.4 per 100,000), and lower rates in Japan (2.8 per 100,000) and Australia (1.7 per 100,000).  As with prevalence and incidence, the mortality due to cervical cancer is thought to be higher in populations where screening programmes are not in place, or where access to screening programmes can be problematic (Vallabhan 2005).

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