HPV Vaccine
There are two vaccines currently available that protect against HPV, the virus that causes cervical cancer: Gardasil and Cerarix. Both Gardasil and Cevarix protect against HPV types 16 and 18, which together account for approximately 70% of all cervical cancer cases. Gardasil has also been shown to be effective in preventing some cancers caused by HPV in men. Both of these vaccines are given in three doses, over a period of 6 months and cost approximately $500. It is important to remember that these vaccines cannot cure an existing HPV infection or treat cervical cancer. Therefore, to be effective these vaccines must be administered before HPV infection occurs.
Even once the vaccine is available, the benefits of wide-scale population coverage will not be achieved for many decades, reinforcing the need to continue focusing on secondary prevention through screening. We are BHI believe that low-cost, low-tech screening methods such as VIA and HPV testing are the best ways to screen for and treat cervical cancer among women living in low-resource areas of Latin America and the Caribbean.