Published 12.48
New figures show that 380,000 women who should have been screened for cervical cancer by human papillomavirus (HPV) testing by 2025 have not yet done so. At the same time, thousands of women with a confirmed aggressive type of HPV virus have not received any follow-up.
– It is serious that so many women have not been tested, and that 5,700 women with diagnosed aggressive HPV virus have not been followed up. There is a high risk of the latter group developing cervical cancer and it happens very quickly, says Fanette Caudron, interest policy expert at the Cancer Foundation.
Around 1 percent of women diagnosed with the aggressive virus types HPV16 or HPV18 develop cancer within a year, which corresponds to around 60 women in this case.
The figures are taken from the latest update from June of the number of participants in HPV screening, the National Quality Registry for Cervical Cancer Prevention (NKCx).
Can be treated
Around 400 women develop cervical cancer every year in Sweden. But if the HPV virus is detected early, it can be treated. The differences between the regions are large.
– There are certain regions that may not have prioritized this, while we know that other regions are very good at following up and making sure that more people participate in screening in general, continues Fanette Caudron.
15 percent of women who have received a positive HPV test in Östergötland have not been followed up. Whereas in Värmland, for example, it is less than 3 percent.
– So there is a very big difference. Värmland is good at both testing and follow-up. Västmanland, Blekinge and Dalarna are other positive examples, she says.
Eradicate HPV
At the moment, a broad rollout of self-testing for HPV is taking place in several regions. Sweden is well ahead in introducing this – as many as 254,000 women took their own HPV test through self-examination in 2025, according to Joakim Dillner, chairman of the steering group and registry keeper for NKCx.
A national project to eradicate HPV and cervical cancer started in 2021 and is entering its final phase this year. The project offers women born in 1994–1999 vaccination combined with HPV testing.
– When many people have been vaccinated, HPV screening provides extra high and long-lasting protection. This is because the infection is becoming more and more rare, fewer get a new infection, says Dillner.
– The goal is for 90 percent of women of screening age, 23 to 70 years, to be tested for HPV. The goal must be reached before December 2026 for Sweden to be the first in the world to eradicate cervical cancer by 2027, says Fanette Caudron.
