Vaccine Reduces Cervical Cancer Risk in Women

According to the results obtained through the nationwide vaccination program, it has been observed that the cervical cancer vaccine has been successful towards reducing cancer causing abnormalities by half in women under the age of 20 in Australia.

The nationwide school vaccination program was implemented in Australia to provide protection against the human papillo virus (HPV), which is often considered to be the biggest factor to developing cervical cancer.

Most of the girls were given the vaccine when they were around 12 years old.

The rate of cancer causing abnormalities in women between the ages of 20 and 24 has also dropped to 23 percent since the program was introduced 8 years ago.

The report which was released by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) however clarified these drop in numbers were not applicable to the Torres Strait and Aboriginal women.

"For Indigenous women, the rate of new cases of cervical cancer was twice that of non-Indigenous women, with death rates four times as high," AIHW spokesperson Justin Harvey said in a statement.

"Women are encouraged to participate every two years," Harvey also said.

"It can help to not only identify cervical cancer early when it's at a more treatable stage, but it can also help to prevent cervical cancer through detecting abnormalities which can be treated."