Birmingham teenagers at risk as thousands miss out on cancer jab

Sep 21 2009 by Alison Dayani, Birmingham Mail

Nicola Benge, public health director for Birmingham East and North PCT, said girls would receive the vaccine in schools from this month

“It was a really challenging decision not to vaccinate in schools but GPs were keen to do it and previous vaccines in schools hadn’t worked out as well.

“There was some confusion for families but with any new vaccination programme, it is always a challenge to get people to take it up and we expect it to rise year on year.”

Steven Thomas, spokesman for Heart of Birmingham PCT, said: “This was a new vaccine last year, and we worked hard to ensure that young women and their parents understood the protection it offers.

“Our campaign will be starting shortly once the schools are back in session.”

The human papillomavirus vaccine(HPV) was introduced a year ago as experts say HPV causes most cases of cervical cancer, which kills more than 1,000 women in the UK every year.