HPV vaccine saving young women's lives

The number of women in their 20s diagnosed with cervical cancer is predicted to fall by 63 per cent in the next 15 years thanks to the HPV vaccine, according to the British Journal of Cancer.

The vaccine, which protects against the two strains of the human papillomavirus (HPV) that cause around 70 per cent of cervical cancers - HPV 16 and HPV 18 - has been offered to girls aged 12 and 13 in the UK since 2008.

While the programme has proven successful, experts emphasise that screening is still important.

Tony Kerridge, a spokesperson for reproductive healthcare provider Marie Stopes International, said that "young women must continue to have screening".

He warned: "There is a slight concern that there may be a number of women who think, if they have had the HPV vaccine, they no longer need to get screened.

"They will start ignoring calls from their GP as and when they are eligible for screening – which could potentially be the recipe for some disaster."

Statistics show that there are around 2,800 new cases of cervical cancer diagnosed in the UK each year, some 225 of which are in women in their 20s.

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