Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Cancer Vaccine

"More than 38,000 secondary school students will receive the cervical cancer vaccine in the first term this year. The vaccine, called Gardasil, is expected to cut New Zealand's cervical cancer mortality rate in half. Parents and caregivers of girls aged 12 to 18 from the 296 schools involved in the programme will be sent letters requesting consent when school resumes.

Clinical trials have involved more than 27,000 women from 33 countries, including New Zealand. More than 26 million doses of Gardasil have been distributed worldwide. The vaccine must be taken in three doses over six months in order to provide protection. It targets the human papillomavirus which causes abnormal cells to grow on the cervix and is responsible for 99 per cent of cervical cancer cases. The vaccine addresses 70 per cent of those cases."

School girls in Australia were vaccinated in 2008.

1 comment:

Lucy said...

Actual they have also implemented free vaccination to all girls in my daughter's highschool.