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HPV Vaccine Yields 'Incredible' Results in UK
Newser • • health
Key Points:
- A study published in the Lancet shows that the HPV vaccine, offered to UK schoolgirls since 2008, has nearly eliminated cervical cancer deaths in women under 30 who were vaccinated at ages 12 or 13.
- Between 2020 and 2024, no cervical cancer deaths were recorded among women aged 20 to 24, despite an expected two dozen deaths without vaccination, with an estimated 200 lives saved so far.
- Despite these successes, vaccination coverage in England is at 76%, below the 90% target recommended by the WHO to effectively eliminate cervical cancer, prompting calls for targeted action and expanded catch-up campaigns.
- Boys have been included in the UK's HPV vaccination program since 2019 to protect against multiple cancers and reduce virus transmission, supporting the goal to eliminate cervical cancer as a public health problem by 2040.
- Cervical cancer remains the fourth most common cancer among women globally, with approximately 3,300 cases diagnosed annually in the UK and 13,500 in the US.
