HPV vaccine worth a shot in Europe

Abstract

On a global scale, cervical cancer ranks as the number two cancer-related death in women. In spite of screening programmes, about 5.5 million new cases of cervical cancer are newly diagnosed each year in the US alone. Human papillomavirus (HPV) has been implicated as a causal factor in cervical cancer, with HPV DNA detected in up to 99.7% of all such cancers. Safe and effective vaccines that prevent HPV infection are now available in Europe, and mandatory immunisation programmes for adolescent females have been discussed, both in Europe and the US. Such programmes have prompted controversy over the ethics and possible unintended negative consequences that may result. In addition, the currently available HPV vaccines are costly, and the costs and outcomes associated with the use of such vaccines were evaluated in several studies presented at the 10th