Sexual health clinicians call for dual vaccine against cervical cancer and genital warts

Currently, the human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccine that is administered to girls aged 12 to 14 only protects against cervical cancer.

Following a survey of sexual health clinicians, including more than 400 doctors and more than 100 nurses, the British Association for Sexual Health and HIV (BASHH) found that 93 per cent of practitioners would advise their friends or family to use Gardasil, a form of the vaccine that provides protection against both conditions.

"It’s obviously important that young women should be protected against cervical cancer, but parliamentarians need to have all the facts about both HPV vaccines, so we can have a proper debate about which drug represents the best value for money for the health service over the long term," said Dr Keith Radcliffe, BASHH president. "If the government had purchased Gardasil back in 2008, like almost all other developed countries did at the time, today we could be well on the way to eradicating genital warts. Instead, over the past three years, cases of genital warts continue to consume valuable resources in our clinics."