DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH
News Release issued by The Government News Network on 21 July 2008
300,000 MORE GIRLS
TO BE OFFERED VACCINE AGAINST CERVICAL CANCER
The national vaccination programme against HPV is being extended
to offer protection to an additional 300,000 girls aged 17-18,
starting in September, Public Health Minister Dawn Primarolo
announced today.
This is in addition to the routine vaccination of girls 12-13
years old which starts this September and will save up to 400
lives for each year of girls receiving the vaccine.
This extension was made possible thanks to the considerable
savings that were achieved through the negotiation of the vaccine
procurement process. The extension of the programme will use the
same vaccine - 'Cervarix' - which is produced by
pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline.
A two year 'catch-up programme' will start in the
school year 2009/10 to vaccinate girls aged between 15 to 18.
Today's announcement means that girls, who would not
otherwise have been included in this catch-up programme, will now
be vaccinated this school year.
Public Health Minister Dawn Primarolo said:
"Our policy to vaccinate girls against cervical cancer is
one of the biggest public health campaigns in recent history. It
will mean that up to 400 girls' lives will be saved each year.
"By choosing the right vaccine we have been able to make
savings which means we can extend the programme to 17 and 18 year
olds. This could save an additional 400 lives."
The vaccine will guard against the two strains of the HPV virus
which cause 70% of cases of cervical cancer, the second most
common cancer in women worldwide. The original catch up programme
will be delivered to girls up to 18 years from September 2009.
The Department of Health will provide additional support to PCTs
in guidance and funding to ensure that the roll out of the older
cohort is a success. There will be an additional £10 million for
PCTs in the 2008/09 financial year to implement this extra programme.
Notes to editors:
1. The extra year of young women being offered vaccination will
be those born between 1 September 1990 and 31 August 1991
2. The cost of the vaccine is commercially confidential.
Cervarix(r) will be purchased by the Department of Health who will
supply it free of charge to the NHS
3. During the vaccine procurement process, an adjudication was
carried out to carefully examine the different vaccines offered
against a wide range of criteria such as their scientific
qualities and cost effectiveness. The criteria used for the
adjudication had been shared in advance with the companies which
tendered. Based on this assessment, the Department of Health chose
to purchase Cervarix(r).
[ENDS]