Vaccine brings down cervical cancer cases

Cervical cancer cases and deaths in Australia remain very low by international standards, but the rates are much higher among non-indigenous women.

Gardasil

(AAP)

There has been a sharp fall in the number of young Australian women being detected with signs of early cervical cancer since the introduction of the Gardasil vaccine.

Cervical cancer cases and deaths in Australia remain low by international standards, a report from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) says.

The report, Cervical Screening in Australia 2012-13, says 682 new cervical cancer cases were diagnosed in 2011 and 143 women died from the disease in 2012.

This equates to between nine and 10 new cases and two deaths per 100,000 women each year.

But while the figures have halved between the introduction of the National Cervical Screening Program in 1991 and 2002, they don't apply in equal measure to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women.

Their rate of new cases of cervical cancer is twice that of non-indigenous women, and the death rates are four times as high.

The study also found the detection of high grade abnormalities - precursors to cervical cancer - reached historically low rates in 2013 for women aged under 24.

The AIHW says this is largely because of the introduction of the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination program in schools for young girls in 2007 and subsequent extension to teenage boys.

Vaccination and screening are effective because most types of cervical cancer have a precancerous stage, lasting for many years.


Share

2 min read

Published

Updated

Source: AAP


Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world