In the midst of all the Valentine’s Day hoopla, most people’s minds are resting on wine, roses and grossly overpriced chocolate. But before you snuggle with your sweetie tonight, you might want to consider that currently, 20 million people in the US are infected with HPV and more than 6 million people are infected annually with this virus. How’s that for a mood killer?
Terrible tie-ins to Hallmark holidays aside, HPV is being transmitted easier than ever. Many cases never develop clinical symptoms, which means people who are infected might not even know it and can easily pass the disease on through sexual contact. And while many of the infections are transient, this nasty little virus can lead to cervical or penile cancer and genital warts, none of which are really the best bedroom buddies.
Luckily, thanks in part to a raft of HPV awareness campaigns, people are starting to smarten up about the Human papillomavirus. In fact, the Global HPV Testing Market is experiencing major growth and is expected to increase at an impressive CAGR of 19.43 percent from 2014-2018.
A major factor contributing to these positive projections is the improved availability of quick, accurate, home-based test kits to identify HPV in women. Recent studies have shown that while home-based tests are less sensitive than those performed by a healthcare professional, they still act as a useful screening tool. According to the British Medical Journal, self-test kits for HPV have actually doubled the number of women diagnosed with the virus.
Organizations like Breakspear Medical Group Ltd. are currently offering easy-to-use home kits to identify HPV in women. Other companies are offering tests that can either be used by individuals at home or by healthcare providers with minimal training.
This is good news, and a great step towards helping women protect themselves, but these kinds of tests are only geared towards half the equation. In fact, there is no approved test for HPV in men, even though HPV is still a leading cause of certain kinds of cancer in this demographic. While men can protect themselves with contraception as well as the HPV vaccine, the lack of any test for HPV in men is only helping the virus proliferate.
And men aren’t the only demographic that’s missing out on HPV testing. There is also huge geographical disparity between who can and cannot access tests. The Americas are certainly the biggest consumers of HPV testing, but certain regions in Asia, Africa and even Latin America have very low availability of test kits, and limited accessibility to clinics where women can get tested. Home-based test kits for areas like this, where accessibility to reliable health clinics is not a reality, would greatly improve the rates of diagnosis in these populations.
Even with these challenges, HPV testing has become commonplace. Increased co-testing of HPV with the Pap test and other related disease management techniques will continue to promote awareness of the disease and spur the HPV testing market worldwide.
For more insights, view our Global HPV Testing Market 2014-2018 report.
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- Global Condom Market 2014-2018
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