Gardasil in health triumph

AUSTRALIA is on track to become the first country in the world to eliminate cervical cancer within 20 years, thanks to Queensland’s groundbreaking Gardasil vaccination.

Cancer Council NSW research has found cervical cancer incidence rates are expected to almost halve to less than four new cases per 100,000 women annually by 2035, a level so low the cancer would be considered as having been extinguished as a public health issue.

However, writing in The Lancet Public Health Journal, the researchers say Australia will need to maintain its highly successful cervical cancer vaccination, developed in Queensland, and screening programs to achieve this result.

Lead researcher Professor Karen Canfell said Australia had been leading the way in cervical cancer control for “many years”.

That’s largely a result of work by Queensland scientist Ian Frazer who, with his late colleague Jian Zhou, developed a vaccine against the human papilloma virus, a leading cause of cervical cancer.

Professor Frazer, of the University of Queensland, was humble yesterday when asked about his role.

“It’s a great demonstration of the value of medical research to the community,” he said. “The vaccine was truly a product of collaboration between many scientists globally.”

Cervical cancer kills an estimated 250,000 women worldwide annually. The latest cervical cancer research will be presented this week at the International Papilloma Virus Conference in Sydney.