Anti-cervical cancer vaccine a critical tool

A VACCINE given to girls to protect them against a virus that causes cervical cancer is a “critical” health tool and access to it should be scaled-up as swiftly as possible, especially in poorer countries, cancer experts said on Monday.

Figures from the World Health Organisation’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) showed an estimated 570 000 new cases of cervical cancer were diagnosed worldwide in 2018, making it the fourth most common cancer in women globally.

Each year, more than 310 000 women die from cervical cancer, and the vast majority of deaths are in poorer countries where immunisation rates against the human papillomavirus (HPV) that causes it are low.

In wealthy countries, some anti-vaccine campaigners are also persuading parents to refuse the shot for their children, leaving them at risk, the IARC said.

“Unfounded rumours about HPV vaccines continue to unnecessarily delay or impede the scaling-up of vaccination,” said IARC director Elisabete Weiderpass.

She said the IARC was committed to fighting cervical cancer and “unequivocally confirmed the efficacy and safety” of HPV shots.

Britain’s GSK makes an HPV vaccine called Cervarix, which targets two strains of the virus, while Merck makes a rival shot, Gardasil, which targets nine strains.

In a separate statement addressed to the World Health Organisation last week, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, also urged greater support for HPV shots, saying it aimed to immunise 40 million girls in poorer countries by 2020.

This would avert an estimated 900 000 deaths, Gavi said. |