Leading Cervical Cancer Charity Tells The Government And Immunisation Experts To Act Now, UK

Main Category: Cervical Cancer / HPV Vaccine
Article Date: 16 Oct 2007 - 1:00 PDT

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The leading cervical cancer charity Jo's Trust is calling on the Government to act now and protect the lives of some 300,000 young women who may miss out on being vaccinated against cervical cancer simply because they were born on the wrong day and/or cannot afford to pay for the HPV vaccine.

On 17th October the UK expert group on vaccines (Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, JCVI) will meet to decide when a HPV immunisation programme will be implemented and who should be offered the vaccine.

In a letter to MPs, Jo's Trust Director Pamela Morton says

"Jo's Trust believes that HPV vaccination should be made available to the largest possible number of women. To make sure that they receive the protection that the HPV vaccines offer against this now largely preventable cancer, I need your support to ensure that the JCVI and the Government recognise, firstly, the benefits of vaccinating all girls in compulsory education up to the age of 16, and secondly, the importance of introducing a scheme that will enable young women up to 26 years old to self-refer to their GP for 2 years after a school based programme is introduced. This model, currently in operation in Australia, is proving successful with an 80% uptake."

Mrs Morton added: "There are currently approximately 310,000 16 year old girls in England. If they are not vaccinated during this school year they will leave in July 2008, unprotected from a very common virus, which could impact on their future fertility and quality of life and at worst, cause their death. This is unacceptable and if not addressed could leave this Government culpable of negligence.

Jo's Trust believes this to be a vital opportunity for the new Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Health to demonstrate a visionary and responsible approach to protecting the lives young women in the UK."

Mrs Morton continued, "Research has proven that infection with Human papillomavirus is most prevalent in late teens and early adulthood so this is a vulnerable cohort of young women; any further delay will put their future health and in a percentage of cases their lives at risk.

"Organised screening and vaccination programmes will prevent cervical cancer in future generations so I beg the Government to not delay any further and take this chance to do something of real and lasting value for women."

Notes:

Jo's Trust is the UK's only dedicated charity to support women with cervical cancer and their families. The Trust has consistently supported the introduction of universal vaccination against the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) types which can lead to the majority of cervical cancers.

On 20th June the Government accepted the recommendation of the UK Joint Committee on Vaccines and Immunisation (JCVI) that protection should be offered to all 12/13-year old girls.

On 19th September the Health Protection Agency (England and Wales) published new data showing that the vaccine currently available for use offers a cost effective protection against the causes of cervical cancer and genital warts.

http://www.hpa.org.uk/hpa/news/articles/press_releases/2007/070919_hpv_cost.htm In addition, new data demonstrated that degree of cross-protection for ten further cancer causing HPV types beyond the four directly targeted by the first licensed vaccine, Gardasil.

On 17th October the JCVI will rule on a "catch up" programme for 14-16 year old girls not included in its first recommendation. It is unclear whether it will consider recommending that the vaccine is made available to women over 16.

Jo's Trust http://www.jotrust.co.uk is a registered charity established in 1999 by James Maxwell in memory of his wife Jo who died of cervical cancer.

It is dedicated to women, their families and friends affected by pre-cancer and cancer of the cervix

Jo's Trusts objectives are

• To raise the public profile and understanding of the causes of pre-cancer and cervical cancer and how they can be prevented and overcome
• To create greater awareness of the importance of having regular cervical screening
• To campaign for improved preventative, diagnostic and therapeutic procedures for cervical cancer

Further information:
Pamela Morton
Director Jo's Trust
http://www.jotrust.co.uk

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