healthscotland.com

The Scottish Government announced on 26 October 2007, that it has been agreed to introduce a new vaccine in Scotland against HPV.

Commencing in September 2008, this programme is intended to protect girls by routinely immunising them at around 12-13 years of age, with the aim of preventing them from developing cervical cancer later in life.

The new immunisation website www.fightcervicalcancer.org.uk provides answers to an array of questions about cervical cancer and the HPV vaccine, as well as links to sites where you can find out more.

The vaccine is designed to protect against the two types of HPV that can cause 70% of the cases of cervical cancer. It does not protect against all other types, so regular cervical screening is important.

A catch-up campaign for older girls will be carried out over the two to three year period from September 2008. The timing and phasing of the campaign is under consideration. This measure will potentially protect 120,000 more teenage girls than had originally been anticipated.

More information is contained within Health Protection Scotland's Immunisation Newsletter.
To support the campaign, a Questions & Answers leaflet has been developed which provides further details on the virus and the immunisation programme.

This dedicated page contains a list of materials included in the HPV Professional Packs as well as further links and information. Printed versions of the professional packs have been distributed to a range of health and education professionals.

The Patient Group Direction has been developed by the national HPV Service Delivery Group to assist NHS boards and should be adapted in line with local clinical governance arrangements.