AUSTRALIA: CANCER VACCINATION PROGRAMME Since April this year around a million Australian girls and women have been vaccinated against cervical cancer.
Girls aged from 12 years and above have been receiving the Australian-developed vaccine at school, and women aged 18 to 26 have been able to get it from their GP.
The Australian government is funding the vaccinations at a cost of $436 million (€260 million) over a four year period. This includes vaccine costs for the two-year catch-up programs for girls and women aged 13 to 26. Once these catch ups are complete, the ongoing cost of the vaccine for girls in the first year of high school will be under $50 million a year.
The Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine was developed by Professor Ian Frazer and his research group at the University of Queensland's Diamantina Institute for Cancer, Immunology and Metabolic Medicine.
HPV is a sexually transmitted infection, mostly affecting women 20 to 24 years of age. It is responsible for 70 per cent of cervical cancers. Almost all abnormal Pap smear results are caused by HPV. In 98 per cent of cases, HPV clears by itself. In rare cases, if the virus persists and if left undetected, it can lead to cervical cancer. This usually takes about 10 years.
Early detection is the best protection from cervical cancer. The vaccine is most effective on girls before they become sexually active.
The drug Professor Frazer and his team developed, which is marketed under the name Gardasil, is 100 per cent effective in preventing common cervical cancers caused by HPV.
As well as being used in Australia it is now also available in Ireland, Germany, Italy, the US, South Korea and many other countries.
In Ireland, more than 60 women die of cervical cancer each year. In Australia it claims the lives of 270 women each year. The US figure is 4,000.
Drug company CSL, which markets Gardasil in Australia, said "The combination of a national immunisation scheme with Gardasil and regular two-yearly pap smears means we could substantially reduce the burden of cervical cancer and pre-cancers."
Professor Frazer, who was born and raised in Glasgow, recalls, when he was about nine, lining up with schoolmates for their polio vaccinations. "The needle got my attention. Then, I realised there were kids around who had had polio. That got me interested in how the body fights infection ... how the body repairs itself."
Prof Frazer is a modest man, but flying back to Australia after having won the prestigious Australian of the Year award for his work, he did not write his usual "medical researcher" under profession on his landing card. Instead, he wrote "Australian of the Year". "No-one even noticed," he laughs. The immigration clerk processed his documents and nodded him through without a second glance.
However, Australian Nobel laureate Prof Peter Doherty, says that in a world of headlines where medical claims regularly turn out to be little more than wild hype, Prof Frazer's work can truly be called a breakthrough. "Ian has made an incredible contribution to human wellbeing," he says.
