One in ten girls missing out on jab against cervical cancer

Published on Friday 2 October 2009 10:15

MORE than 1,200 girls have missed out on a vaccine offering protection against cervical cancer after a major health campaign in the Lothians.

The HPV vaccine – which safeguards against the HPV virus that causes 70 per cent of all cervical cancer cases – was offered to more than 10,000 schoolgirls and school-leavers, but more than one in ten either failed to take up the offer in the first place or did not complete the three-jag course.

The inoculation drive was staged before a schoolgirl died in England just days after receiving the vaccine, sparking fears about its safety.

Batches across the country were recalled, before a post-mortem found Natalie Morton, 14, of Coventry, died from an unrelated malignant tumour in her chest.

Although the take-up is in line with results elsewhere in the country, it has disappointed campaigners who hoped to see close to 100 per cent inoculation.

Sharon Watt, 28, who was recently given the all-clear after being diagnosed with cervical cancer last year, urged the girls who had not yet been inoculated to take up the offer.

"Just now it is made really easy for them," said the student teacher from Leith. "You can still get it at school and it only takes a few seconds. Compared with what you risk going through if you don't get it, it really is nothing.

"I can't stress enough how important it could be, and the pain of an injection doesn't compare to what could happen if they don't get it."

The groundbreaking vaccination programme was carried out through 2008, with jags offered to S2, S5 and S6 girls, as well as those under 18 who had left school.

The younger girls were targeted in an effort to offer them protection before they become sexually active. The results are contained in a report by Health Protection Scotland, offering the first comprehensive assessment of the success of the campaign.

It shows that of the 10,154 targeted in the Lothians, 9538 received their first jab, 94 per cent. The take-up dropped by 100 for the second jab, and a further 600 by the last, leaving more than 1200 without protection.

The results follow concern about the poor take up of women attending for screening for cervical cancer – which kills around 15 women a year in the Lothians.

Women in the Lothians are less likely to attend a smear test than those anywhere else in Scotland, despite the death from the disease of TV celebrity Jade Goody.

The HPS report states: "Although no uptake target was set for the (vaccination) campaign, these figures are above the lower levels used in models to estimate the best protective impact of the HPV immunisation programme and its cost effectiveness."