How are we winning the fight against cervical cancer?

Data has shown us that the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccine is effective at preventing HPV infection. Research findings clearly identified that when the vaccine is given to children at age 12 to 13, it reduces cervical cancer incidents by up to 87%.

The HPV vaccine protects against cervical cancer, and also against some cancers of the mouth, throat, anus and genital areas. It is routinely given to secondary school age children.

Academic researchers looked at the data of women with a cervical cancer diagnosis or with non-invasive carcinoma (changes to cells in the cervix) and compared unvaccinated women with those who were given the HPV vaccine aged 12 to 13, 14 to 16 or 16 to 18.

The data came from the National Cancer Registration and Analysis Service (NCRAS) and researchers focused on those who were aged between 20 and 64 and had a diagnosis between 2006 and 2019.

The research, published in the Lancet, showed that the vaccine reduced cervical cancer incidents by up to 87% when given to girls at age 12-13 because children were less likely to have been exposed to the HPV virus. 

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Latest studies in England have shown that the HPV vaccine stops 90% of cervical cancer cases and can reduce incidence in low socioeconomic groups.

The latest HPV vaccine type introduced in the UK in 2021 is proven to be even more effective in improving health outcomes – in the long term it is predicted to reduce cases of women’s cancer and HPV attributable deaths by 16% and 9%, compared to the previous vaccine type. 

Learn more about the HPV vaccine. 

Read the Cervical cancer elimination by 2040 – plan for England.