Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer in women worldwide, with about 500,000 new cases and 250,000 deaths occurring each year. Almost 80% of cases occur in low-income countries, where cervical cancer is the number one cause of cancer in women. Virtually all cervical cancer cases (99%) are linked to genital infection with human papillomavirus (HPV), a family of virus types which also causes genital warts and other forms of cancer.