Sex cancer jab ok for girls of 12
By JACQUI THORNTON
Health Editor
June 21, 2007
CONTROVERSIAL plans to give girls of 12 and 13 a cervical cancer jab were confirmed by the Government yesterday.
A vaccination programme, which will save thousands of lives, will begin in the autumn of next year.
The Department of Health said it will help cut cases of the cancer — caused by a sexually-transmitted virus — by 70 per cent.
Some experts advocate giving it to girls as young as NINE — and say boys should also get the jab to wipe out the disease. Doctors agree girls would have to have it BEFORE they start having sex to ensure maximum benefit.
But some campaigners and religious groups claim the vaccine could encourage girls to have unprotected sex.
The vaccination programme will cost the NHS £180 per jab. It was developed after experts found 99 per cent of cervical cancers are caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV).
Health Minister Caroline Flint said: “We intend, in principle, to introduce an HPV vaccine into the national immunisation programme. The benefits . . . will be felt by women and their families for generations.
“This vaccine will prevent many women from catching the HPV virus in the first place, potentially saving hundreds of lives.”
Dr David Elliman, of the Great Ormond Street children’s hospital, said it will be “some time” before the rate of the cancer starts to fall because the disease affects women, not girls.
It is the second most common cancer in women worldwide, with over 2,000 new cases in Britain each year.
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