New studies on determinants of cervical cancer in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), with a population of nearly 35 million people, has relatively low incidence rates of cervical cancer and of the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) that causes cervical cancer (CC). KSA has a CC incidence rate of 1.9 cases per 100,000 women-years, with about 152 new cases diagnosed each year, and 55 annual deaths, indicating that the country has one of the lowest incidence rates of the disease among low and middle income countries. While there appears to be a declining incidence of CC in many high income countries, the prevalence of the disease in Low and Middle Income countries (LMIC) remains high and even appears to be increasing in some countries¹. This is attributable to a higher knowledge of cervical cancer in high income countries and greater use of the available preventive measures for the disease such as the Pap smear, HPV vaccination, and barrier methods of contraception. By contrast, CC remains a poorly known and poorly understood disease among women in LMIC, which ensures the less common use of the prevention methods and therefore sustains the prevalence of the disease.