RESUMEN Introduccion. Se reviso la situacion actual de la infeccion por Virus del Papiloma Humano y su relacion con el Cancer de Cuello Uterino. Metodos. La metodologia se baso en la revision sistematica de articulos originales que analizaron aspectos relacionados con esta infeccion viral y el cancer de cervix, las pruebas de tamizaje, las acciones que se adelantan y la vacuna contra el virus del papiloma humano. Resultados . Factores como falta de voluntad politica para aunar esfuerzos, barreras de acceso generadas a las usuarias, falta de adecuacion de los servicios, la estructura y organizacion del Sistema General de Seguridad Social en Salud, pueden explicar la poca reduccion en mortalidad por esta malignidad, a pesar de existir politicas publicas y reglamentacion en Colombia. Desde la reforma de 1993, el control de las enfermedades de interes en salud publica ha sido insuficiente. Discusion. La alta morbimortalidad impone urgentemente a los diferentes actores del sector sanitario la implementacion de precisas medidas preventivas y terapeuticas ya conocidas para controlar el cancer de cervix, asi como la evaluacion de nuevas intervenciones. Palabras clave: Virus del Papiloma Humano (VPH), Cancer de Cuello Uterino (CCU), cancer de cervix, tamizaje cervical, vacunas VPH. HUMAN PAPILLOMA VIRUS INFECTION AND CERVICAL UTERINE CANCER ABSTRACT Introduction. A literature review of current aspects of Papilloma Virus Infection and its relationship with Uterine Cervical Cancer was undertaken. Methods. The systematic review concerned original papers analyzing aspects related to this viral infection and cervical uterine cancer, screening tests, actions taken and human papilloma virus vaccines. Results. Little attention is paid to cervical cancer by health officials; there are access barriers to users, inadequate health services, an inflexible structure and organization of Health Social Security General System, uncoordinated efforts, all of which could explain the little reduction in mortality; in spite of the existence of a public policy and regulations on screening tests, a clear-cut political attitude by different system actors is not seen. Since 1993 health reform, there has been insufficient interest in controlling public health conditions. Discussion. Urgent actions should be taken by health officials to control high morbidity and mortality related to cervical cancer with known existing preventive and therapeutic measures; forthcoming interventions must be evaluated as well. Key words: Human papilloma virus (HPV), uterine cervical carcinoma, cervix cancer, HPV vaccines.