The development of the first vaccine against cervical cancer will be hugely beneficial for Irish women in the future but for those in the 25 - 65 age group the only protection against the condition is the introduction of a nationwide screening programme, Irish doctors said yesterday.
It emerged yesterday that a vaccine to prevent cervical cancer could be available within a year.
Data from international clinical trials have shown that the vaccine, known as Gardisil, when given to women aged 16 to 23, could give 100 per cent protection against changes in the cells lining the cervix that forewarn of cancer - ie, that the cells are in a pre-cancerous state.
Cervical cancer is caused by the human papilloma virus (HPV). The vaccine protects against two types of HPV which are present in 70 per cent of cervical cancers. Ireland has one of the highest rates of cervical cancer in western Europe. Each year there are approximately 1,000 new cases of pre-cancer, 200 cases of cervical cancer and 70 deaths from the condition.
Prof Walter Prendiville, consultant obstetrician/gynaecologist at the Coombe Women's Hospital, said last night that the new vaccine acted against the two strains of the HPV virus which was responsible for most cervical cancers.
He said that most women contracted the virus when in their 20s but that in the majority of cases their immune systems acted against it.
Prof Prendiville said that the development of the vaccine would be "hugely beneficial" for future generations of Irish women. However, he said that for women in the 25 - 65 age group, the only protection was the introduction of the planned nationwide cervical screening programme.
He said that cervical cancer rates in Ireland per capita had overtaken those in the UK, where numbers had been significantly reduced as a result of a screening programme.
The Irish Cancer Society said yesterday that it welcomed the announcement of the potential availability of a cervical cancer vaccine within a year.
However it warned that the development "should not mean that we become complacent about the absence of a nationwide cervical screening programme" which, it maintained, would save lives.
The chief executive of the Irish Cancer Society, John McCormack, said Irish women had been let down on this issue by successive governments for nine years.
The potential arrival of Gardisil did not negate the Government's responsibility to implement a properly organised, population-based, free nationwide cervical cancer screening programme for all women aged 25 - 60, he said.
