Human papillomavirus (HPV) is an epitheliotropic virus. High-risk HPV infections lead to precancerous lesions which may progress to cancer in the cervix, vagina and vulva, while low-risk HPV infections cause benign lesions such as genital warts and recurrent respiratory papillomas. HPV infection remains one of the major public health problems threatening human health. To date, six prophylactic preventive HPV vaccines have been licensed, and the effectiveness of HPV vaccination has gradually appeared in some countries with earlier vaccination. HPV vaccination has been proved to be effective in protecting against diseases related to HPV infection, which leads to significant reductions in the incidence of vaccine-type HPV-related infection, high cervical lesions, anogenital warts, recurrent respiratory papillomatosis and other relevant diseases. The herd protection effect of the vaccines is outstanding. Meanwhile, a bivalent HPV vaccine has been demonstrated for the cross-protection against HPV infections of non-vaccine types (HPV31/33/45) in real-world vaccination practice.