Girls urged to get anti-cancer jab

HEALTH chiefs are urging parents to encourage their daughters to have a cervical cancer vaccine.

Justin McCracken, chief executive of the Health Protection Agency, told colleagues at the annual sexual health conference in Liverpool that the vaccination will save hundreds of lives and spare thousands of women from investigation and treatment.

The free human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine is currently being offered to girls aged 12, 13, 17 and 18. Girls currently aged 14-16 will be vaccinated in a catch-up programme in 2009-2010 and 2010-2011. Therefore by the end of 2011, all girls currently aged up to 18 years will have had the opportunity of vaccination.

Mr McCracken said: “Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer in women worldwide and approximately 400 people will die from it in the UK this year alone.

“If we achieve the anticipated uptake rate of 90 percent of eligible girls by 2011, and maintain that uptake rate into the future, we will eventually cut cervical cancer rates by three-quarters.

“The HPV vaccine is safe, proven and effective against 70 per cent of cervical cancers.

Together with the cervical cancer screening programme, the vaccine will prevent illness and save lives. Anyone who is eligible for vaccination is strongly advised to take it up.”

The conference heard that although sexually transmitted infection rates increased markedly over the past 10 years in the North-West, there has been a recent levelling off of gonorrhoea, syphilis and new HIV diagnoses in line with national trends.

Mr McCracken added added: “There is strong evidence from the recent data that the safer sex message is hitting home and people are heeding it, but we cannot afford to be complacent over what continues to be a serious public health problem.

But we need to work even harder at encouraging young people to take up the opportunity of chlamydia screening when it is offered to them.

“We need to get the screening figures up to national target levels and beyond, not just here but across the country.

“Only then will we fully understand the true scale of this often symptom-less infection that can have devastating consequences for individuals if left untreated.”