British MDs Favor Gardasil For Own Children Despite Government Coverage Of Cervarix

Main Category: Cervical Cancer / HPV Vaccine
Also Included In: Primary Care / General Practice
Article Date: 28 Oct 2008 - 9:00 PDT

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Many British doctors are choosing Merck's human papillomavirus vaccine Gardasil for their own children over GlaxoSmithKline's Cervarix, which was selected by for coverage through Britain's National Health Service, according to a comment by Phil Hammond, a British doctor and media broadcaster, published Friday in the British Medical Journal, Reuters reports. Gardasil is designed to protect against four strains of HPV, two of which cause cervical cancer, while while Cervarix targets the two cancer-causing strains of HPV.

According to Hammond, doctors he spoke with said they chose Gardasil for their own children because of the vaccine's ability to protect against both cervical cancer and genital warts. Cervarix is still awaiting U.S. approval, but was chosen by Britain for its cervical cancer program because it is less expensive, although the amount the government paid for the vaccine was not disclosed, Reuters reports. However, a recent study estimated that Cervarix's price of 13 to 21 British pounds -- or about $21 to $34 -- less than Gardasil would save up to 19 million pounds, or about $30 million, during the first year of the program.

Hammond writes that people who can afford Gardasil will opt for the more expensive vaccine over Cervarix, creating a two-tiered health system that favors the wealthy. "Outside the program, many doctors will recommend Gardasil because of the extra protection it offers, so we may end up with all women in the program getting Cervarix and most outside of it getting Gardasil," Hammond writes, adding, "This clearly has the potential to undermine the program" (Reuters, 10/24).

An abstract of the article is available online.

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