New Zealand women will have access to the world’s first vaccine for cervical cancer from today. Gardasil has been registered by Medsafe as a vaccine for all girls and women aged nine to 26.
The course of three injections costs 450 U.S. dollars and has not yet been approved for inclusion in the government-funded schedule of childhood vaccinations. It is designed to prevent cervical cancer caused by certain types of the sexually transmitted Papillomavirus. Gardasil, the first vaccine against cervical cancer, is considered to be highly effective against four types of the human papilloma virus, including two that cause about 70 percent of cervical cancers. On an average, around 180 New Zealand women are diagnosed with cervical cancer each year and one third of them succumbs to the cancer.
The fact that Gardasil is available for girls as young as nine has caused controversy in Australia and America with politicians calling for a debate on its social implications.
