Provincial Health Minister Mike Murphy's announcement yesterday that New Brunswick will launch a school vaccination program against human papillomavirus (HPV) and a new cervical cancer screening initiative is drawing praise from public health advocates.
"This is a huge, huge announcement," said Dr. Eshwar Kumar, co-chief executive of the New Brunswick Cancer Network. "Cervical cancer screening is probably the only screening program we know that can prevent a cancer."
Murphy told a group at the Saint John Regional Hospital the Gardasil vaccination program will start in the 2008-09 school year for girls in seventh and eighth grades, and in later years for seventh-grade girls only. Gardasil protects against strains of HPV that are responsible for 70 percent of cervical cancers. The screening program will be made available to females ages 18-69.
"Cancer experts recognized that an organized, population-based provincial screening program is an important tool in reducing mortality from cervical cancer, especially when combined with a vaccination program," said Murphy. "Over the past 30 years, we have witnessed a steady decline in cervical cancer cases in our country because more and more women are undergoing a regular Pap test."
Dr. Wayne MacDonald, chief medical officer with the provincial health department, stressed that even vaccinated women "will still have to have Pap tests, and having a formal screening process will be very important to ensure that we are going to reduce the cervical cancer rates as best as we can."
Anne McTiernan, executive director of the Canadian Cancer Society in New Brunswick, called the announcement "a big step forward for women's health" in the province.
01/30/08
CANADA: Announcement a ‘Huge Step’ in Cancer Prevention
Source: Telegraph-Journal (New Brunswick):: Reid Southwick; Courtesy of the CDC National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention