British schoolgirls to get cancer jab

LONDON (AFP) - British schoolgirls are to be offered vaccinations against cervical cancer from next year, in a scheme which could save hundreds of lives a year, officials said Friday.

The introduction of the voluntary vaccinations for 12-13 year-olds from September 2008 is a recognition of the "need to do more to prevent disease and not just treat it," Health Secretary Alan Johnson said.


Girls will be vaccinated against the sexually-transmitted human papillomavirus (HPV). HPV causes around 70 percent of cases of cervical cancer which kills more than 1,000 women in Britain each year.


The basic programme of vaccinations will cost the country around 100 million pounds, but experts hope this will be offset by the reductions in treatment costs later.


Around 400 lives could potentially be saved each year, according to official estimates. A two-year "catch-up" campaign for girls aged 16 to 18 will begin in 2009 and girls aged 15-17 will be offered the jab in 2010.


The move was welcomed by health professionals including the Royal College of GPs and Cancer Research UK.


"The benefits of introducing this vaccine into the national immunisation programme will be felt by women and their families for generations to come," said Professor David Salisbury of the government's Department of Health.


Each year, more than 2,700 British women are diagnosed with cervical cancer and around 200,000 women a year also have pre-cancerous changes to their cervix picked up through smear tests.


Cervical cancer kills around 274,000 women worldwide every year.

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/afp/071026/health/britain_health_cancer_girls

Isn't this the same deal that failed in Texas and a few other states because parents raised a bunch of shit about it?

yeah it sure looks like it however it dosen't say what the drug is.. it maybe gardasil or gardasil under a different name

The vaccine would be given in two to three doses by school nurses, with protection lasting about 10 years. As with all vaccinations, parents could refuse consent. The joint committee has also considered whether boys should be immunised to stop them passing on the virus, with some evidence it could help protect against rarer penile cancers. It concluded that vaccinating boys is 'only cost effective if both coverage and vaccine efficacy is low' among girls.

This summer Hollie Anderson, 13, became the first British girl to get the vaccine privately. http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1978538,00.html

At the moment Gardasil is in the lead over Cervarix, as it has been licensed in both the US and Europe. In America public funding is available in most states. France, Germany and Italy are due to put public money behind the vaccine in the first half of next year. The British Government is set to start making Gardasil available on the NHS towards the end of next year.

GSK submitted Cervarix for regulatory consideration in Europe in March and should hear back in the next few months. It delayed its application to US regulators by a few months and will probably file in April.

Both companies say the demand for the vaccine is so large that the market is big enough for both of them. Mr Garnier has said he is unconcerned that Gardasil is ahead because its makers are "unblocking the process".

http://www.natap.org/2007/newsUpdates/010207_18.htm