The jab that can stop cancer.

The government has decided that all girls over 12 will be offered a vaccination against cervical cancer; Jane Moore (mother to two girls) investigates the pros and cons of the jab. Interspersed throughout the debate is footage of Claire Everett, a 22-year-old who has terminal cervical cancer. Given that cervical cancer is caused by the human papilloma virus (HPV) which is transmitted sexually, many mothers, particularly those with strong religious beliefs are concerned that the vaccine will involved young girls being introduced to the idea of sexual promiscuity. The vaccination is also very expensive and might undermine the huge achievements of the cervical screening programme in the UK. There are also concerns about the effectiveness of the vaccine as it only protects against strains 16 and 18 of the disease. Currently there are two versions of the vaccine - Gardasil made by Merck in the US and Cervarix made by Glaxo Smithkline in the UK. Moore is concerned that the publicity campaign to promote Cervarix was too vehement and did not give the information on the vaccine entirely correctly - she had her 15-year-old girl vaccinated and now feels she did that under pressure.