70% of girls would have cervical jab
70% of girls would have cervical jab
2008-04-25Newsfeed
Seven out of 10 girls could be vaccinated against the disease that causes cervical cancer, the results of a pilot study have suggested.
Seven out of 10 girls could be vaccinated against the disease that causes cervical cancer, the results of a pilot study have suggested.
Girls aged 12 to 13 will receive the HPV jab from September in a programme costing up to £100m a year.
They will be vaccinated against the sexually transmitted infection human papillomavirus (HPV).
HPV causes about 70% of cases of cervical cancer, which kills more than 1,000 women in the UK each year.
The results of a pilot study in Manchester suggested that about 70% of girls would take the jab.
The vaccination is likely to be given in three doses over a six-month period but this early report was confined to looking at uptake of the first two doses.
Published online in the British Medical Journal, the research involved two primary care trusts in the city in February 2007 and was offered to 2,817 girls in 36 secondary schools.
The authors, from the University of Manchester, concluded: "Vaccine uptake was 70.6% for the first dose and 68.5% for the second dose.
"Uptake was significantly lower in schools with a higher proportion of ethnic minority girls or higher proportion of girls entitled to free school meals.
"The main reason for parents' refusal of vaccination was insufficient information about the vaccine and its long-term safety."
Copyright © The Press Association 2008
