First global guidance for HPV vaccination for cervical cancer prevention

· The American Society of Clinical Oncology has issued a clinical practice guideline on human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination for the prevention of cervical cancer, reported ScienceDaily.

· According to the news source, this is the first guideline on primary prevention of cervical cancer that is tailored to multiple regions of the world with different levels of socio-economic and structural resource settings.

· The guideline includes specific recommendations according to four levels of resource settings, pertaining to financial resources of a country or region, as well as the development of its health system, including personnel, infrastructure and access to services.

· “Because resource availability varies widely, both among and within countries, we need to adjust strategies to improve access to HPV vaccination everywhere,” said Silvia de Sanjosé, co-chair of the panel that developed the guideline.

· De Sanjosé said “this guideline is unique in offering cervical cancer vaccination recommendations that can be adapted to different resource levels and we expect it to have a major impact on the global health community.”

· In all environments and independent of the resource settings, two doses of HPV vaccine are recommended for girls ages 9 to 14 years, with an interval of at least 6 months and up to 12 to 15 months between doses.

Source: firstwordpharma.com