HPV vaccine: high coverage could eradicate cervical cancer within decades, say researchers

HPV vaccination programmes for adolescent girls have led to a dramatic reduction in the number of HPV infections, precancerous cervical lesions (CIN2+), and anogenital warts in countries that offer them, a meta-analysis published in the Lancet shows.1

Benefits of vaccination have also not been limited to girls, as rates of HPV infection have fallen in older women and men as a consequence of herd immunity. The benefits of herd immunity were greatest in countries with high rates of vaccination coverage and those such as the UK that ran catch-up campaigns for older girls when vaccination was first introduced, the study found.

Marc Brisson of Laval University in Quebec City, a study coauthor, told a press conference in London on 26 June that the World …