Nottingham and Nottinghamshire ICB
Each year in the UK around 11, 210 people are told they have a cancer caused by HPV. Vaccination prevents around 90% of these cancers and is available free to children through the school aged immunisation service.
Wednesday 4 March marks International HPV Awareness Day.
HPV is the human papillomavirus. Almost all of us will have HPV at some point and while for most of us it isn’t harmful, HPV is linked to several kinds of cancer, such as cervical, head and neck cancers.
Vaccination offers the best protection against HPV. If you have a secondary school-aged child, they will be offered a HPV vaccination in year 8. This is given in school or a community venue during the school holidays. If they have missed out, they can still catch up through the school aged immunisation service to year 13. You can find out more from the Nottinghamshire County Council website.
After leaving school, girls up to the age of 25 and boys born after 1 September 2006 up until their 25th birthday can request a vaccination through their GP.
The vaccine reduces the risk of HPV-related cancers by about 90%. But all women and people with a cervix aged 25 to 64 still need to have regular cervical screening.
This website has some great information for young people and families: Home – HPV Inform
