Science

Australia’s cervical cancer vaccine might eradicate the disease

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The vaccine has seen rates of HPV fall

The vaccine has seen rates of HPV fall

VOISIN/PHANIE/Alamy

By Alice Klein

Australia is on track to become the first country to practically eradicate cervical cancer.

A national school-based vaccination programme has seen a sharp decline in human papillomavirus (HPV) infections, which cause over 99 per cent of cervical cancer cases.

Since 2007, all girls aged 12 or 13 in Australia have been offered a free HPV vaccination. A decade later, the proportion of 18- to 24-year-old women with HPV has fallen from 22.7 to 1.5 per cent.

This means the number of Australian women diagnosed annually with cervical cancer …