Gardasil, the vaccine for cervical cancer, is not very popular in New Zealand. Target age for the vaccine is under 12, as it works best when given before sexual activity starts. Even so, less than a third of their schoolgirls have received the Gardasil vaccine thus far.

Some people believe that by giving the vaccine to young girls, it promotes promiscuity. Other question the effectiveness of the drug. Despite controversy and religious beliefs, the New Zealand government aims to immunize 300,000 schoolgirls over the next two years.

Image: sxc.hu.

GlaxoSmithKline has won a contract with the UK’s NHS to supply its cervical cancer vaccine,
Cervarix.

The battle to supply a vaccine against cervical cancer for use across Britain has been won by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK).

Cervarix, the GSK vaccine, will be given to girls aged between 12 and 13, starting in September this year, and should prevent about 70 per cent of cervical cancers — saving 400 lives a year when the effect is fully felt.

Read more from The UK Times Online.

Let’s wait and see what Merck (maker of the other cervical cancer vaccine Gardasil) has to say about this.

Amidst last week’s frenzy, I might have overlooked some important stuff involving cancer.

The following are still in my week-old (!!) notes:

Smokers Might Benefit From Earlier Colon Cancer Screening

New evidence suggests screening for colorectal cancer, which is now recommended to begin at age 50 for most people, should start five to 10 years earlier for individuals with a significant lifetime exposure to tobacco smoke, a University of Rochester Medical Center study said.

An examination of 3,450 cases found that current smokers were diagnosed with colon cancer approximately seven years earlier than people who never smoked. The study is also one of the first to link exposure to second-hand smoke, especially early in life, with a younger age for colon cancer onset.

Read more

Uganda is one among a few developing countries lined up to benefit from the first cervical cancer vaccine trial project to be implemented by the Programme for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH).

PATH is a non governmental organisation hoping to come up with a cervical cancer vaccine by year 2010.

Young women in India, Peru, Uganda, and Vietnam will become the first in the developing world to live without fear of cervical cancer-as PATH and our partners begin pilot introduction of new vaccines for the disease,” reads a statement on the organisation’s website.

In 2005, cancer killed approximately 14,000 people in Uganda. 8,000 of those were under the age of 70.

Of the various cancers, cervical cancer remains the most common cancer killing women in Uganda according to the World Health Organisation.

Developing countries lack resources and women miss out on lifesaving screening and treatment because such facilities are not available to women, according to PATH.

Hmm…why can’t just pharma giants bring U.S.-approved vaccines to developing countries — instead of NGO’s taking the lead to do just that? But then again, it is good that NGOs like PATH take the initiative to stop cervical cancer vaccine in less-fortunate countries of the world.

What do you think?

Source: allAfrica.com

Also, you can read more about PATH’s Global Call to Stop Cervical Cancer.

In Ireland, the rate of cervical cancer deaths increased by 40%.

Dr. Tracy Murray of the Irish Family Planning Association reported that it is not the unavailability of cervical cancer vaccines, but the lack of education and information on the disease, that it is preventable.

Over 180 women are diagnosed with the disease here every year and it kills an average of 73 women annually, despite the fact that it’s preventable.

A vaccine is available for cervical cancer but less than a third of Irish women know it exists.

The numbers are alarming. This report reinforces the major role of education in this matter. Information is power and access to available (cervical cancer) vaccines will solve most healthcare problems.

The solution doesn’t stop on the availability of vaccines and medications, generally speaking. The people should be able to afford them, right?

Speaking of cervical cancer vaccines, there are two notables: Gardasil by Merck which was approved by the FDA earlier this year and Cervarix by GlaxoSmithKline which is expected to be approved by the FDA later this year (but already approved in Australia).

Regarding these HPV vaccines that will protect women against cervical cancer, the CDC recommends that the vaccine should be routinely given to girls at 11-12 years of age – the stage before young girls are more likely to become sexually active.

Now there is a new project that will evaluate and monitor the effectiveness of these vaccines.

The said project -funded by the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) - will be jointly conducted by the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) and the New York State Department of Health.

The said project is an attempt to determine how many people are receiving the vaccine and whether or not it is having a measurable impact on rates of cervical cancer and its precursor lesions.

Find more details from University of Rochester Medical Center.

[Photo Credit: URMC]

Cervarix™ is the cervical cancer vaccine candidate of GlaxoSmithKline which have been previously known to protect from human papillomavirus (HPV) types 16 and 18.

Now, an Australian study of under 150 Perth women included in a major international research at the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research proved that the new Cervarix vaccine provides broader protection against cervical cancer because it also demonstrated additional protection against infectious from other strains of HPV that account for another 10 percent of cervical cancers.

According to co-author Dr Rachel Skinner, who headed the Perth trial:

“We have found through this study that this vaccine is extremely effective in the prevention of pre-cancerous disease of the cervix due to infection with HPV types 16 and 18.

However we now have evidence that Cervarix offers women broader protection by providing some protection against infections caused by HPV types 45 and 31. These types together with HPV types 16 and 18 account for 80 per cent of cases of cervical cancer worldwide.”

Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration approved Cervarix™ last month (May 2007) for women aged 10-45 years, making it the first vaccine in Australia available for women over the age of 26 years.

The results of the said trial have been published yesterday in the prestigious international journal The Lancet.

Find more details from the full report.

Once Massachussets Governor Deval Patrick’s new proposal goes through, Merck’s cervical cancer vaccine - Gardasil - will be given free to girls in Massachussets aged 9- 18.

Unlike Texas, this is however NOT mandatory.

Patrick states that the new investments would save lives and reduce future treatment costs.

Read the full report.