Cervical cancer is the one major cancer on these pages whose cause is established. Its development is measured in years rather than assumed, and both a vaccine and a screening test exist against it. That gives a reader two things to act on: HPV vaccination at age 9, and cervical screening from age 30.
Key facts
- Ethiopia’s estimate for 2024 was 8,159 new cases and 5,007 deaths (opens in a new tab). That is 10.3% of all cancers estimated in the country, and 15.6% of those estimated in women. An estimated 18,208 women were within five years of a diagnosis.
- Persistent infection with human papillomavirus causes about 95% of cervical cancers (opens in a new tab). Abnormal cells usually take 15 to 20 years to become cancer. That is 5 to 10 years in a woman whose HIV is untreated. That interval is long enough for screening to find the change while it is still treatable.
- The age-standardised incidence rate for 2024 was 20.2 per 100,000 women (IARC, GLOBOCAN 2024). WHO defines elimination as fewer than 4 new cases per 100,000 women a year.
- Women living with HIV are six times more likely to develop cervical cancer than women without it. An estimated 5% of cases worldwide are attributable to HIV. Both figures are from WHO’s cervical cancer fact sheet. For them the advice on this page is screening from age 25, and every three to five years.
- The cumulative risk of an Ethiopian woman developing cervical cancer before age 75 was estimated at 2.4% for 2024 (IARC, GLOBOCAN 2024).
Sources
Table
| Target | Ethiopia | 2030 target |
|---|---|---|
| Vaccinate (girls 9–14 in the target cohort receiving HPV vaccine) | 51% | 90% |
| Screen (women 30–49 ever screened, by any method) | 4% | 70% |
| Treat (women with pre-cancer or cancer receiving treatment) | no national figure published | 90% |
The virus, and which types
HPV is a family of around 200 viruses (opens in a new tab) spread by sexual contact. Most infections cause nothing and clear on their own. About 90% do so without treatment. Cancer follows only from infection that persists with one of the high-risk types.
Two of those types, 16 and 18, account for most cervical cancer. WHO’s own publications give two figures for how much. Its cervical cancer fact sheet, revised in July 2026, puts the share at around 76%. Its immunisation programme page, undated, puts it at around 70%. Both are on the record.
In Ethiopia, 96.6% of 291 invasive cervical cancer specimens tested positive for HPV 16 or 18. That is from a March 2023 report of the ICO/IARC HPV Information Centre.
WHO names the factors that raise the chance of progression from infection to cancer. The factors are how oncogenic the virus type is, the woman’s immune status, and other sexually transmitted infections. The rest are the number of births she has had, young age at first pregnancy, hormonal contraceptive use, and smoking. The same March 2023 report gives an Ethiopian total fertility rate of 4.0 live births per woman. It gives a median age at first sexual intercourse ranging across surveys from 15.6 to 18.8 years. It gives smoking prevalence among Ethiopian women of 0.30%.
The interval that makes prevention possible
Pre-cancerous change rarely causes symptoms, and typically precedes cancer by 15 to 20 years. That interval is why the international minimum standard is two screening tests in a lifetime, rather than an annual test. Those two tests are by age 35 and again by 45. It is also why a woman who feels entirely well is the person screening is designed for. Where the change is found, treatment is short. It is a heated or cold probe that destroys the abnormal cells, or a heated wire loop that removes them. What the visit involves is set out on the early detection pages.
What this means in Ethiopia
Ethiopia has committed, with every other WHO member state, to the 90–70–90 targets for 2030 (opens in a new tab) shown in the figure above. They are 90% of girls fully vaccinated by age 15, and 70% of women screened with a high-performance test by 35 and again by 45. The third is 90% of women with pre-cancer or cancer treated.
Vaccination coverage is reported on two bases that differ widely, and a reader will meet both. WHO’s estimate for the 9–14 primary target cohort was 51% in 2025 (opens in a new tab) (Global Health Observatory, indicator SDGHPVRECEIVED). Ethiopia’s own administrative reporting to WHO recorded female HPV coverage between 90% and 94% for 2019 to 2023, on the final-dose series (indicator HPV_FEM). It recorded 96.0% for 2025 on the first-dose series (HPV_FEM1). WHO’s 51% is a first-dose figure, so the like-for-like comparison for 2025 is 96.0% against 51%. Both series sit in WHO systems, and part of the gap is the denominator. About 305,000 girls appear in WHO’s count of the target population and not in Ethiopia’s.
Screening is where the distance from the target is greatest. In 2019, 4% of Ethiopian women aged 30–49 had ever been screened and 3% within the previous five years. The routine test is visual inspection with acetic acid. The 70% target is written for a high-performance test. A month-long campaign across six regions from 7 November 2025 screened 275,607 women and treated about 7,836 of the 9,882 pre-cancerous lesions found at the same visit (opens in a new tab).
What you can do
- If you have a daughter turning 9, take her for HPV vaccination. It is part of routine immunisation at that age. HPV vaccination sets out the schedule.
- If you are a woman aged 30 or over, ask whether cervical screening is offered where you seek care. The request usually has to come from you.
- If you are living with HIV, ask about screening from age 25 and every three to five years.
- If you have been vaccinated, plan on being screened as well. The vaccine prevents infection and does nothing about one already present. The types it covers are not all the types that cause cancer.
- If you have noticed one of the changes listed under signs and symptoms, do not wait for a screening round.