... Significant decrease in infections where vaccine is used

LAST YEAR October, the Ministry of Health introduced the non-mandatory human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination programme to target an initial 22,000 grade-seven girls to provide the best protection against types 16 and 18 of the virus.

These two types are responsible for about 70 per cent of all cases of cervical cancer.

Acting director of the health ministry’s Family Health Unit, Dr Melody Ennis, noted that “where the vaccine has been used, there has been a significant decrease by 68 per cent in HPV infections, pre-cancer and cancerous legions”.

“Australia is proud. In March of this year, a headline in the Guardian (newspaper) read that they could be the first country to eradicate cervical cancer ... because they started years ago to give the vaccine to young girls before they were exposed to the virus,” she said.

Paediatrician and adolescent medicine specialist, Dr Abigail Harrison, reassures that there are no live parts of the virus present in the vaccine or “any other special preservative agents that we need to worry about”.

“The World Health Organisation has reviewed multiple papers, and it is safe. There have been multiple clinical trials (also),” she said.

Dr Harrison indicated that where side effects do exist, as with other medications, “there are mild symptoms”.

“So, we tell our girls that they may feel dizzy, they may feel a little bit upset, but if they sit down they are good to go again. The symptoms are self-limiting, meaning they will finish all on their own, and you will not have to do anything about them,” she explained.