Vaccination plus screening could prevent 95% of cases, says doctor

A vaccine that protects women against the virus that causes most cases of cervical cancer will be available in Ireland within weeks.

The vaccine, Gardasil, has been approved by the European Commission and is due to be rolled out throughout Europe immediately by pharmaceutical company Sanofi Pasteur.

Geared towards females aged nine to 26 years, the vaccine is already available in a number of countries, including the US.

It is administered in three doses over a six-month period and is expected to cost about €300 per patient.

Gardasil protects against four strains of the human papilloma virus responsible for around 70 per cent of cervical cancers, as well as pre-cancerous lesions and genital warts.

Its approval was a major breakthrough in the battle against cervical cancer, according to Prof Walter Prendiville, president of the British Society for Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology and consultant in gynaecology at the Coombe Women's Hospital and Tallaght Hospital. "Vaccination in combination with a screening programme could prevent up to 95 per cent of cervical cancers and eventually could virtually eradicate the disease which kills a quarter of a million women worldwide every year," he said

The vaccination is most effective when administered to women who are not yet sexually active. The maximum benefit could be achieved if it was administered to young boys also.

The Government has no plans to introduce a mass vaccination programme, although it has said the use of the vaccine on a national basis would be considered. While the vaccination should not replace a screening programme, Prof Prendiville said it was his view a vaccination programme should be considered.

"I don't think vaccination will be much use if it is just done in an opportunistic way. If we are to use the vaccine properly, a vaccination programme would be the way - and the Government should seriously consider the cost-effectiveness and benefits of that."

Around 70 Irish women die from cervical cancer every year.