BEIJING,
Sept. 11 (Xinhuanet) -- The world's first vaccine for cervical cancer
Gardasil will be available for New Zealand girls and women aged nine
to 26 from Monday.
The course of three injections costs 450 U.S.
dollars and has not yet been approved for inclusion in the
government-funded schedule of childhood vaccinations.
Research shows the vaccine protects women from the
cancer-causing effects of some types of the human papilloma virus (HPV).
A Health Ministry committee is assessing whether to add
Gardasil to the schedule, along with other vaccinations designed to protect
against chicken pox, rotavirus, pneumococcal disease and types of meningococcal
disease other than the B strain.
HPV is believed to cause about 50 percent of cancers in
the genital track skin -- from the anus to the cervix in women and penis in men
-- and significantly contribute to cancers of the throat, tonsils and mouth,
said Ian Frazer, one of the experts who worked on the HPV vaccine.
Gardasil, the first vaccine against cervical cancer, is
considered to be highly effective against four types of the human papilloma
virus, including two that cause about 70 percent of cervical cancers.
In June, the U.S. government approved a series of three
shots of Gardasil, to be given over a six-month period, for females aged 9 to
26.
Around 180 New Zealand women are diagnosed with cervical
cancer each year and one third of them die. Enditem
(Agencies)
