Cervical cancer is referred to as a silent killer. It comes from a virus that is transmitted sexually and develops over several years, while the infected person often has no symptoms at the start. When symptoms first appear, it is usually too late to do anything. Around the world, cervical cancer costs almost 1,000 women their lives – every day. Up to 90 percent of deaths occur in developing countries. But actually the solution is quite simple: HPV vaccine. There are now several vaccines against cervical cancer, and they are extremely effective – a brand new research project from Scotland confirms again that they are very effective – especially if girls are vaccinated before they become sexually active (the same applies to boys who may be infected with the virus and spread it by sex). Precisely because the vaccine is so effective, more and more countries are introducing it into their vaccination programmes. More girls are being vaccinated, and over the past two years at least 23 more countries have started using the HPV vaccine, including large countries such as Nigeria, Bangladesh and Indonesia. – Globally, there has been a greater focus on fighting cervical cancer, and in the individual countries there are associations and groups that are champions of access to more life-saving vaccines. In addition, the amount of data showing that the vaccines are both effective and safe is increasing, says Nayab Waheed, who researches developing countries’ use of HPV vaccines at the University of Antwerp in Belgium. Extremely effective – It will save lives in developing countries, says Bjørn Melgaard. Now he is retired, but Bjørn Melgaard is a doctor and former director of the vaccination program at the World Health Organization WHO – with experience from both Geneva, Bangkok and New Delhi, and it was under his leadership that WHO started work on improving an HPV vaccine. He has continuously followed the spread of the vaccine in the developing countries. While he was director of the vaccination programme, research came out which showed that a vaccine could be made with great effect, he explains. And when he was convinced of the potential, he started the work. It is not the WHO that directly finances vaccines or develops them, but the global health organization facilitates development, brings together leading experts, designs technical standards for, for example, the production of the vaccine, quality control, its use and so on – all kinds of details that both vaccine factories and health authorities shall use. The first HPV vaccine came on the market in 2006. There are now six WHO-approved vaccines. And there is a lot of research showing that they are extremely effective. Brand new results from a giant Scottish research project are the latest documentation. The researchers have examined all women screened for cervical cancer: since the HPV vaccine was introduced in Scotland in 2008, none of the women who were vaccinated as 12- or 13-year-olds have developed cervical cancer. For those vaccinated between the ages of 14 and 22, cases fell by almost two-thirds. It’s about finding the girls There are now at least 140 countries that offer the HPV vaccine. – More and more health authorities are agreeing to include it in their vaccination programmes, says Melgaard. And they do so despite the fact that there are many practical challenges with it, especially in developing countries. But because it is so wildly effective, it is becoming more and more widespread nonetheless. There are no challenges with the vaccine itself, he emphasizes. It works. – But there is a difference between vaccines and putting vaccines into people – that is, vaccinations, as he puts it. Normally, it is young children who are vaccinated in the countries’ regular vaccination programmes, and most 1-year-olds have received a whole bouquet of different vaccines, against everything from measles to pneumonia, polio to hepatitis B. But this also means that the systems of getting the vaccines until children are normally built around young children. The HPV vaccines, on the other hand, are intended for girls of school age.
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Extremely effective jabs: HPV vaccines spill over into the world’s vaccination programs
