Carcinogenic HPV types cause cervical cancer that is the second most frequent cancer in women and cause of cancer mortality worldwide. Increased knowledge on the natural history of cervical cancer directs our fight against this disease. Progression from precursor lesion to invasive cervical cancer takes 1-2 decades leaving enough time for identification and treatment of the disease.

Unfortunately, countries that lack or that have ineffi­cient screening programs, such as those from the Former Yugoslavia, have very high cervical cancer incidence and mortality rates. Even where cervical cancer screening programs have been applied for several decades, the num­ber of women who present at an advanced stage of cancer is still so high as to be inadmissible in the 21^st century. Therefore, implementation of, and improvement of already existing cervical cancer screening programs by a new strategy is needed. Conventional cytology can be im­proved by LBC and HPV testing. Primary screening by HPV testing should be encouraged because it offers better protection against invasive cervical cancer than repeated cytology. Vaccination against carcinogenic HPV types seems to be the promising challenge of the future.