Sportsdude, don't know if you know this but the vaccine have been approved for women in Canada. Yay!!!! As for the price tag, it'll be a matter of time before it will be covered by Medicare.
Vaccine against cervical cancer approved
ANDRÉ PICARD
From Wednesday's Globe and Mail
Health Canada has given its approval to the first vaccine that can protect women from most cases of cervical cancer.
But the cost, about $400, will likely prove an impediment to its widespread use.
The vaccine, called Gardasil, protects against four types of human papillomavirus, a common sexually transmitted disease that can cause cancer of the cervix, vulva and vagina, and is also the cause of some genital warts.
"This is a significant advance for women's health," said Heather Logan, director of cancer-control policy at the Canadian Cancer Society.
The vaccine, which will be in Canadian pharmacies by the end of August, is approved for use by girls and women 9 to 26, but to be effective, they need to be inoculated before becoming sexually active.
Marc Steben, a consultant with the Institut national de santé publique du Québec who conducted part of the clinical trials for Gardasil, said that, ideally, all girls should receive the vaccine between ages 9 to 12, as part of a universal vaccination program.
In Canada, preteens are inoculated against hepatitis B, another sexually transmitted virus.
But it is unclear whether public-health programs will follow suit with the HPV vaccine because of its cost and questions about its long-term effectiveness.
While the vaccine, which is given in three doses, was highly effective in clinical trials, it is not clear if a booster shot will be required.
Three in every four sexually active Canadians contract a human papillomavirus sometime in their life, but only a tiny fraction of them will develop cancer as a result.
Now, women are screened for cervical cancer with a Pap test.
Despite the success of Pap screening, there are still an estimated 1,350 cases of cervical cancer diagnosed in Canada each year, and 390 deaths. Another 220 women die of vulvar and vaginal cancer annually.
Ms. Logan of the Canadian Cancer Society said widespread use of the vaccine would reduce the number of cancer cases by about two-thirds.
Currently, the vast majority of cancers occur in women who have never had a Pap test.
Guylaine Lefebvre, president-elect of the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada, said the availability of a vaccine marks a dramatic change in approach for the most common sexually transmitted infection.
"Until now we have only been able to react to the effects of HPV in women. Now we are talking about preventing most of the serious diseases caused by HPV," she said.
Gardasil, a product of Merck Frosst Canada, protects against infection with HPV types 6, 11, 16 and 18. Between them, they account for about 70 per cent of cervical cancer and 90 per cent of genital warts.
Simon Sutcliffe, president of the BC Cancer Agency, said that it is now possible to envisage the eradication of cervical cancer. While young women will benefit from the vaccine, he stressed that it is also important for women to continue to undergo Pap tests.
The Pap test -- in which a small sample of cells from the cervix is examined for abnormalities that can lead to cancer -- should be done within three years of "first vaginal sexual activity" (meaning intercourse, oral sex or digital penetration). It is recommended that the Pap test be done annually until a woman has three negative tests, after which the test should be done once every three years, if no abnormalities are detected, until age 70.
Pap testing is one of the great public-health success stories in Canada. Widespread testing has resulted in an 80-per-cent drop in cervical cancer deaths since the 1960s.
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