By Health Reporter Jordanna Schreiver
GIRLS are failing to complete the course that protects them against cervical cancer.
SA chief executive Professor Brenda Wilson said young women need to take all three doses of the cervical cancer or human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, known as Gardasil, for maximum protection.
“Research tells us that if this is done before women become sexually active, it offers almost 100 per cent protection for the HPV that causes 70 per cent of cervical cancers.”
Nationally, 83 per cent of girls aged 12-13 in 2007 had had the first dose of the vaccine by December 2009, but this fell to 80 per cent for the second dose and 73 per cent for the last one.
Data shows the coverage rate for women aged 18-19 who completed the course was 38 per cent and that at least 30 per cent of women aged 20-26 completed the full course.
[Note from SaneVax: Perhaps if the vaccine in question were safe and effective against cervical cancer, there would be absolutely no problem increasing the uptake. Perhaps, if there were not an already proven safe and effective method of controlling cervical cancer available that did not pose the risks all vaccines do, uptake would increase.]
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