The first stocks of a new vaccine against cervical cancer have arrived in the UK, but will be available for the time being only through private clinics, the manufacturers said yesterday.
Its arrival will increase pressure on the Department of Health to decide whether it will launch a general NHS vaccination campaign for girls aged nine to 15, the group with most to gain from immunisation. More than 100,000 doses of the Gardasil are available through private clinics in the UK, the two drug companies developing and marketing the drug, Sanofi-Aventis and Merck & Co, said yesterday.
A full course of three injections would cost £241.50, which means that the price of a campaign to the NHS would be £90m a year. That could be brought down through discounts from the manufacturers - or it could rise if it is decided to run a "catch-up" exercise by vaccinating young women over 15 too.
The joint committee on vaccination and immunisation (JCVI) is presently considering the costs and benefits.
"Everyone involved in the prevention and management of cervical cancer and other human papilloma virus diseases, will now be looking forward to the findings of the JCVI regarding the policy for vaccination in the UK," said George Kassianos, a GP and immunisation spokesman for the Royal College of General Practitioners.
Gardasil protects against the most prevalent strains of human papilloma virus which can cause cancer - but not against all of them. The benefit is greatest in girls with no sexual experience.
In the UK, 3,000 women a year get cervical cancer and in spite of the screening programme, 1,000 die.
