'Historic': HPV vaccine lowers cervical cancer rates by 90 per cent, says UK study

Recent data shows that the human papillomavirus, or HPV vaccine is helpful in lowering cases of cervical cancer by 90 per cent. Cancer Research UK described the findings as "historic" as this comes as proof that the programme launched in England 13 years ago is saving lives.

As per the research, cervical cancer rates in vaccinated women aged 12 and 13 were 87 per cent lower than in an unvaccinated population. There were reductions in cervical cancer rates by 62 per cent in vaccinated women aged between 14 and 16, and 34 per cent in women aged 16 to 18 when vaccination was introduced.

Prof Peter Sasieni, one of the researchers at King's College London said that the impact has been huge.

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The study further estimated the HPV programme has prevented about 450 cancers and 17,200 pre-cancers. Prof Sasieni said that was "just the tip of the iceberg" as the women who were vaccinated were still young to be getting cancer.

Dr Vanessa Saliba, consultant epidemiologist for UKHSA also took part in the study. She was quoted by The Guardian as saying, "We encourage all who are eligible for the HPV vaccine to take it up when it is offered in school. All those eligible can catch up until their 25th birthday. Together with cervical screening, this will help to protect more women from preventable cases of cervical cancer.”

As of now, in the UK, 3,200 cases of cervical cancer are diagnosed every year. The study observed in detail the cancer registry data between January 2006 and June 2019 for a total of seven groups of women who were between the ages of 20 and 64 at the end of 2019.