The routine vaccination of schoolgirls against聽the human papillomavirus (HPV) in Scotland has led to a dramatic reduction in cervical cancer in later life.
Some forms of the sexually-transmitted HPV are linked to cervical cancer 鈥� one of the most common cancers in women aged under 35 in the UK. A decade ago, the UK government introduced a UK-wide immunisation programme for girls aged 12 and 13.
Compared with unvaccinated women born in 1988, vaccinated women born in 1995 and 1996 showed reductions of up to 90 per cent in聽cases of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN), a pre-cancerous abnormal growth of cells and lesions on the cervix linked to invasive cervical cancer.
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Unvaccinated women also showed a reduction in disease. The researchers say聽this suggests routinely vaccinating girls aged 12 and 13 in Scotland has created substantial 鈥渉erd protection鈥�.
The findings were made by Tim Palmer at the University of Edinburgh and his colleagues by analysing聽vaccination and screening records for 138,692 women born between 1988 and 1996, who had a screening test at age 20.
The study鈥檚 co-author, Kevin Pollock at Glasgow Caledonian University, says聽the HPV vaccine has exceeded expectations.聽鈥淸The vaccine] is associated with near elimination of both low and high-grade cervical disease in young Scottish women eight years after the vaccine programme started.鈥� Cervical cancer cases in women in Scotland aged 20-24 have reduced by 69 per cent since 2012.
Scotland鈥檚 public health minister Joe FitzPatrick says the programme will be enlarged. 鈥淲e are, of course, building on this success and extending the HPV vaccine programme to boys later this year.鈥�
Journal reference:聽BMJ,听
