Stories tagged cervical cancer
One million young girls to receive free vaccination
HPV vaccine, GardasilMerck & Co. announced that it will donate its cervical cancer vaccine, Gardasil, to inoculate 1 million women in some of the world's poorest countries. Poor nations account for 80 per cent of the 250,000 women killed by cervical cancer every year. Cervical cancer is caused by the Human Pappillioma Virus (HPV) a common sexually transmitted disease. Persistent infection with HPV is responsible for 99 percent of all cervical cancers.
Gardasil Access Program
The announcement was made at a conference organized by the UN Development Fund for Women in Brussels, Belgium and also at the Clinton Global Initiative conference in New York.
"In the near future, women around the world will not need to worry about themselves or their daughters, sisters, aunts, mothers and grandmothers succumbing to this disease,"
"Today I would like to add my voice to those demanding that cervical cancer gets the international political recognition it deserves. We are at the threshold of a new era for its prevention," said President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia. unifem.org
The company said at least 3 million doses of Gardasil are to be distributed over the next five years. The vaccine is given in three shots, spread over six months.
Profit free protection for poor people
The Gardasil Access Program also exists to enable poor countries to vaccinate their people at dramatically lower prices (no profit for Merck). Partnerships with organizations like The Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI), the World Health Organization (WHO), and Program for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH), hopefully will mean that the world's poor will have an equal right to health.
Sources: New Scientist and Merck.com
Related Buzz article and discussion: Cervical cancer vaccine recommended for preteens
Tags : Cervarix, a second vaccine for cervical cancer prevention.
Cervarix vaccine: competition for Gardasil
Results of the new vaccine, Cervarix, were recently published in Lancet. Report co-author Dr Rachel Skinner said the results were very encouraging.
"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.
Nearly 500,000 new cervical cancer victims each year.
Cervical cancer is a major global health problem, with nearly 500,000 new cases occurring each year worldwide. It is the second most common cancer - and the third leading cause of cancer deaths - in women worldwide. Each year an estimated 270,000 women die from the disease, and it is the leading cancer killer of women in the developing world.
Links to our ongoing discussions on cervical cancer vaccinations.
- hpv vaccine
- Texas requires cancer vaccine for girls
- Cervical cancer vaccine recommended for pre-teens
Source article: GlaxcoSmithKline
Gov. Rick Perry ordered Friday that schoolgirls in Texas must be vaccinated against the sexually transmitted virus that causes cervical cancer, making Texas the first state to require the shots. Breitbart.com
HVP Vaccine: Vaccine approved to protect against cervical cancerCourtesy Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Should pre-teen girls be vaccinated against cervical cancer?
This is what a US federal medical panel recommended. The decision comes on the heels of US government approval earlier in June of the vaccine, Gardasil.
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommended the first vaccine developed to prevent cervical cancer and other diseases in females caused by certain types of genital human papillomavirus (HPV). The vaccine, Gardasil®, protects against four HPV types, which are responsible for 70% of cervical cancers and 90% of genital warts. This HPV vaccine was recently licensed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in girls/women, ages 9-26 years.
Some FAQ from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
How common is cervical cancer in the United States (U.S.)? How many women die from it?
The American Cancer Society estimates that in 2006, over 9,700 women will be diagnosed with cervical cancer and 3,700 women will die from this cancer in the U.S.What HPV types does the vaccine protect against?
The new HPV vaccine protects against the two HPV types that cause most (70%) cervical cancers (types 16 and 18), and the two HPV types that cause most (90%) genital warts (types 6 and 11).
About 30% of cervical cancers will not be prevented by the vaccine. Also, the vaccine does not prevent about 10% of genital wartsWhy is HPV vaccine recommended for such young girls?
Ideally, females should get the vaccine before they are sexually active—since this vaccine is most effective in girls/women who have not yet acquired any of the HPV vaccine types. Girls/women who have not been infected with any vaccine HPV type will get the full benefits of the vaccinIs the HPV vaccine safe?
The FDA has approved the HPV vaccine as safe and effective. This vaccine has been tested in over 11,000 females (ages 9-26 years) in many countries around the world. These studies have shown no serious side effects. The most common side effect is soreness at the injection siteHow effective is this vaccine?
The vaccine has mainly been studied in young women who had not been exposed to any of the four vaccine HPV types. These studies found the vaccine to be 100% effective in preventing cervical precancers caused by the vaccine HPV types. These studies also found it to be almost 100% effective in preventing precancers of the vulva and vagina, and genital warts that are caused by the vaccine HPV types. The vaccine was less effective in young women who had already been exposed to a vaccine HPV type. This vaccine does not treat existing HPV, genital warts, precancers or cancers. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Bill Gates
According to The National Cervical Cancer Coalition women in developing countries account for about 85 percent of both the yearly cases of cervical cancer (estimated at 493,000 cases worldwide) and the yearly deaths from cervical cancer (estimated at 273,500 deaths worldwide).
In the majority of developing countries, cervical cancer remains the number-one cause of cancer-related deaths among women.
Backed by a $27.8 million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the non-profit international health group, PATH, will launch a five-year effort to distributing Gardasil to women starting in India, Uganda, Peru and Vietnam. New Scientist
Vaccination by inhaling spray possible
"The spray needs two doses, spaced two weeks apart, compared to the injectable vaccine, which requires three doses over six months. Denise Nardelli-Haefliger at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland, who leads the team developing the vaccine, presented the results at the conference of the European Research Organization on Genital Infection and Neoplasia in Paris." New Scientist
