The Cervical Cancer HPV Gap

Abstract

To evaluate equity in global health research, this study quantifies the disparity in cervical cancer HPV clinical trials between Africa and the United States. We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of 23,873 African and 190,644 U.S. interventional studies registered on ClinicalTrials.gov through April 2026. Trial activity was compared using country level metadata, with the rate ratio serving as the primary measure of interest.

Africa accounts for only 48 cervical cancer trials (0.2% of its total research portfolio), compared to 3,279 trials in the U.S. This represents a profound per-capita investment gap, highlighting Africa’s marginalization in global oncology research. Furthermore, a Shannon entropy score of 2.46 bits indicates that research activity is highly centralized within a few geographic hubs rather than distributed across the continent. While reliance on a single registry may underrepresent locally funded studies, these results demonstrate a significant misalignment between disease burden and research investment, necessitating a systemic shift in regional funding strategies.