A prospective population-based screening study of >200,000 women in Finland has shown that DNA testing for the human papillomavirus (HPV) followed by cytology for positive-testing patients is more effective at detecting precancerous and cancerous cervical lesions than primary cytology alone in a 5-year screening round. In women aged 25–34 years, the cumulative hazard ratio for cervical intraepithelial neoplasia and adenocarcinoma in situ was 0.0057 for HPV screening, which compared favourably to that of cytology alone (0.0046). In women aged >35 years, the corresponding data were 0.0022 for HPV DNA analysis and 0.0017 for cytology. Consequently, careful selection of age groups and screening intervals could lead to improved overall detection rates of precancerous cervical lesions using HPV screening. However, similar studies in other countries are needed to determine the extent of the benefit.