A new rapid test for the human papillomavirus (HPV), for use in regions with scarce resources has been reported to be 90 % accurate as compared to current methods in use.

HPV is the primary cause of cervical cancer and the new vaccine has been developed by Qiagen NV in partnership with PATH, with funding from Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
 
The rapid test, careHPV, is designed to detect 14 high-risk types of HPV in a short time span of about 2.5 hours and can be operated by staff with minimal training and without any running water. John Sellors, professor of family medicine at the McMaster University in Canada and one of the researchers said, "If women 30 years and older could be screened at least once in their lifetimes with such a test, and appropriate treatment administered at the same visit, public health programmes would be affordable and deaths from cervical cancer would be reduced by a third."

Cervical cancer, the second most common cancer affecting women worldwide, causes 300,000 deaths a year, with 85 % of these in the developing world. A routine pap smear in the United States and Europe, has led to a 50 % reduction in mortality but this is not a viable test in developing countries. The new vaccines for HPV are not effective in older women or those who have been exposed to the virus previously. In such cases screening and early detection are the best options.

Tests were conducted on 2388 women in the rural area of Shanxi in eastern China. They were given instructions and the instruments to collect the samples themselves and with the help of midwives. The specimens were then run through careHPV tests and results were compared against digital colposcopies (examination of cervix and surrounding tissues for precancerous lesions), done by a gynecologist at the site. The outcome of the test appears in the October issue of Lancet Oncology and researchers say it could be an effective screening to prevent cervical cancer in rural and resource-poor settings

The careHPV is expected to be available by early 2009 for pilot programs and widely by the second half of the year.