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Cabinet has approved that all girls between the ages of 9 – 12 will undergo the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccination (Gardasil vaccine) programme of limited time duration to prevent against cervical cancer. The administration of the Gardasil vaccine will be based on parental consent and approval. Cabinet based its decision on a submission by the Minister for Health, Women and Social Welfare, Dr Jiko Luveni. Dr Luveni said that for the past decade, cervical cancer has been the most common type of cancer seen in Fiji and accounts for 14% of all female cancer related deaths. “The majority of these deaths occur in women around 50 years of age.” Dr Luveni said that cervical cancer affects the entrance to the womb and is often related to chronic infection with the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV). She said that the current Pap smear screening programme (with coverage at 10%), is not reaching vast majority of women who are the most susceptible to cervical cancer. Dr Luveni said that recent global advances in cervical cancer prevention include a new vaccine against the HPV. She said that whilst this vaccine, because of high cost, is used mainly in the industrialised world, Fiji, through a donation of short shelf life HPV vaccine by the drug company MERCK, has a rare opportunity of introducing the vaccine to school age girls. She said that the HPV vaccination is a new strategy in the control / prevention of Cervical Cancer in women. “Based on the HPV vaccine’s high level of protection and Fiji’s high immunisation coverage rates through the school health programme, it is expected there would be reductions in rates of cervical cancer by 60 to 70% in girls who receive the vaccine. She, however, emphasised that an efficient and high quality Pap smear programme for screening and detecting early cervical cancer is still important and should be supported. -End- (No.1432) |
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