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For the first time in Australia we now have the ability to offer a vaccine on a mass basis
to prevent cancer. The cancer involved is cancer of the ***.
Deaths from cancer of the *** would actually be quite high in this country if it were not
for the effective Pap screening program we've had for many years, but we're now on the threshold
of being able to do a lot better for cancer of the *** and that is to prevent it completely
in many cases.
The cause of cervical cancer is the human papilloma virus, which is transmitted through
*** contact, and we now have a vaccine that protects against 2 strains of that virus,
which cause about 70% of cervical cancer cases. It doesn't replace the pap test, but what
it does is offer an opportunity to provide protection for women as they mature into adulthood,
against cervical cancer.
The vaccine's been approved for use with females aged between 9 and 26 at the moment and it's
being offered through a program of vaccination in schools to all secondary school girls.
They need 3 shots spread over 6 months and that's been organised through the National
Immunisation Program and all of them will be vaccinated by the end of 2008.
Women who have left school and have not yet reached the age of 26 are advised to get vaccinated,
and they can do that through their general practioner.
Pap tests remain very important, for a couple of reasons. It will take many, many years
for the effect of the vaccine to be reflected in reduced cervical cancer incidents, because
what we're doing is getting in and preventing an infection, which takes some years to cause
the cancer, if it's going to. And of course most women at risk of cervical cancer are
past that possibility - they've been exposed to HPV. So they do need to continue to have
their pap tests regularly, as has always been recommended, and certainly not relax and give
up the program - that would be very dangerous.