New study demonstrates safety of HPV vaccine – Noone

A new global report has confirmed the effectiveness of the HPV vaccine in preventing cervical cancer amongst young girls and women, whilst dispelling the myth the vaccine may cause serious side effects, a Fine Gael Senator has said.

Dublin Senator Catherine Noone has highlighted the findings of the Cochrane review; whose authors examined evidence from 26 previously published studies of more than 70,000 women and found no serious side effect risks associated with the vaccines.

In women between the ages of 15 and 25 who tested negative for HPV before receiving the vaccine, the risk of pre-cancer associated with HPV vaccines was 164 for every 10,000 unvaccinated women, compared with just two per 10,000 vaccinated women.

The vaccines also reduced the risk of any cervical pre-cancer (whether caused by the two HPV types or not) from 287 to 106 for every 10,000 woman.
Senator Noone said: “Cervical Cancer is the fourth highest cause of women’s cancer globally.

“I am hopeful the new Cochrane review will reassure people that HPV vaccination is safe.

“This report in conjunction with early evidence of reduction in cervical cancer in Finland, confirms the revolutionary value of this cancer-preventing vaccine and as such, I urge all parents to vaccinate their daughters, as per the government recommendations.

“Although the HPV vaccine is available free of charge to all Irish girls in their first year of secondary school – currently there is only a 62% uptake.

“This represents a drop of over 20% from 2010 when the initiative was first introduced and is directly due to scaremongering spread by anti- vaccine groups who have been peddling misinformation about the vaccine. This is despite the fact that their claims have not been substantiated by the evidence.

“We can’t allow complacency to creep in, this vaccine saves lives,” the Fine Gael Senator said.