HPV Prevalence by Country

You’ve probably contracted HPV at some point in your life. In fact, there’s a good chance you’ve contracted genital HPV, too.Shocked? Don’t be. More than half of all adults have had “common warts” at one point or other, warts that affect the hands, feet, elbows or knees. That’s why they call them common warts. They’re uncomfortable, but they’re really no big deal.As for genital HPV, believe it or not, there are actually several types of HPV that affect the genitals, but which do not lead to warts, do not lead to cervical cancer, and are basically harmless in every way, shape and form.To list the HPV statistics in different parts of the world …AustraliaAround four percent of men and women in Australia have been diagnosed with Genital Warts. Common warts are pretty much just a common the world over, with more than half of adults having had hand warts or plantar warts at one time or another. This amounts to somewhere around seventy thousand cases.New ZealandNew Zealand has an estimated 14,683 active HPV cases at present.United StatesIn the US, genital HPV is actually quite common, with somewhere around 5.5 million new genital HPV infections occurring every year. Most of these are harmless, though Genital Warts account for about one third of all new STD infections each year, with around 20 million men and women supposed to have some form of genital HPV at any given time.UKIn the UK, there are an estimated 221,583 active genital HPV cases at any given time.ChinaChina is, by population, the largest country in the world, and has nearly five million active HPV cases at a given time.In Developing CountriesIn developing, or third world countries, there have been major efforts to combat HPV related cervical cancer, but nonetheless, around a quarter million women die of the disease every year, with the majority of these deaths occurring in Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Latin America.It’s hard to ascertain much from these statistics except for the simple fact that HPV spreads everywhere. Whether you have a modernized hospital system or not, HPV will find a way in.It is notable that developed countries tend to see fewer deaths as a result of HPV related cervical cancer than do developing countries. Efforts have been made to combat these trends and educate those in developing countries on safe sex practices and general health considerations, but it has been an uphill battle met with political and ideological obstacles.If you’d like to help, there are a few things you can do. We can’t all join the Red Cross and move to Sierra Leone, but each and every one of us can write angry letters. Tell the Pope not to butt in when it comes to distributing condoms in Africa, tell your political that we need to put more effort towards fighting disease in third world countries.And of course, you need to practice safe sex at home, as well.