A vaccine against cervical cancer is to be made available in Ireland shortly, following its approval today for use in the European Union.
Gardasil will target four types of the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) which put women at particular risk of cervical cancer.
Cervical cancer is the second most common cause of death from cancer (after breast cancer) among young women (15-44 years) in Europe. Around 70 women die of the disease here every year, while around 180 news cases of full-blown cervical cancer are diagnosed.
More than 1,000 cases of pre-cancerous changes are also diagnosed through cervical smear testing and it is estimated that 2,900 women are currently living with cervical cancer.
As yet the State does not have a national screening programme for cervical cancer and women must present themselves voluntarily for smear tests.
Today, Gardasil received its European licence, makers Sanofi Pasteur confirmed. It was tested on more than 25,000 women and prevented up to 100 per cent of pre-cancerous lesions in the neck of the womb, or cervix. Its effects lasted for up to five years and the manufacturers say its benefits will be "long-lasting".
The drug protects against cervical cancer caused by HPV strains 6, 11, 16 and 18, and also against genital warts.
There are around 200 known strains of HPV, but it is estimated that types 6,11, 16 and 18 cause around 75 per cent of cervical cancer, 90 per cent of genital wards, and up to 95 per cent of other genital cancers.
HPV is very common and an estimated four out of five sexually active people will be exposed to it at some stage in their lives.
It has not yet been decided how the vaccine will be distributed here and it is likely to cost around €300 per vaccination.
Cancer experts also believe the vaccine should be administered to girls as young as 12, before they become sexually active. Plans in Britain to give it to girls as young as nine have proved controversial.
Boys could also be vaccinated with Gardasil in the hope of eventually eradicating HPV. The vaccine is in competition with a rival from UK-based GlaxoSmithKline, called Cervarix, which is still a year off the European approval stage.
Cervical cancer kills 274,000 women worldwide every year.
Didier Hoch, president of Sanofi Pasteur MSD, said: "The fact that it has taken just nine months for Gardasil to receive a European licence is, for us, testament to the vaccine's significant benefits for women's health and the strength of the clinical trial data on which the application was based.
"Surveys show that women and physicians understand and recognise the benefit of a four-type Human Papillomavirus vaccine that can prevent cervical cancer and other Human Papillomavirus diseases before and beyond cervical cancer. Encouraged by excellent expert feedback, we will now do all we can to make Gardasil available across Europe as soon as possible."