Promotion

HPV vaccine - third jab now due

publication date: Mar 15, 2010
HPV logoThe HPV vaccination is in three stages, not just a one off jab. It's incredibly important for girls to receive all three jabs to ensure the best protection against the HPV virus. The third and final jab for girls aged 12 to 18 who started the programme in September, is scheduled for this spring.

Cervical cancer and HPV in numbers: what you need to know:
 
  • 3 – number of doses of the HPV vaccine required over a six month period
  • 12 to 18 – the age range of girls being offered the vaccine
  • 13 –  types of the human papillomavirus (HPV) known to cause cancer
  • 25 – age at which women are invited for cervical screening in England
  • 70 – percentage of strains of the virus that the vaccine will protect against
  • 70 – the percentage uptake of the vaccine against cervical cancer has reached the highest levels since its introduction a year ago
  • 100 – girls and young women featured in the new TV advertising for the vaccine
  • 400 – the estimated number of lives the HPV vaccination programme will save each year
  • 1,000 – the approximate number of women who die from cervical cancer in the UK each year
  • 3,000 –  the number of women are diagnosed with cervical cancer every year In the UK,
  • 4,500 – lives a year are saved by the cervical screening programme in England
  • 400,000 – girls and young women received all three doses of the vaccine in the first year of the HPV vaccination programme

Further information is available at www.nhs.uk/hpv (including downloadable leaflets, Q&As and fact sheets).

There is also a dedicated NHS Direct information line on 0845 602 3303.