Cervarix®, GlaxoSmith-Kline’s vaccine against cervical cancer, already available in the country, was recently approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and, more recently, received prequalification from the World Health Organization (WHO) that will enable developing countries to purchase it through the United Nations, for inclusion in their national vaccinations programmes.

Cervarix® offers strong, broad and long-lasting sustained protection against human papilloma virus types 16 and 18, responsible for more than 70% of all cervical cancers in women in a greater age range. Data obtained from clinical studies conducted among women vaccinated with Cervarix® has shown 100% protection against the development of persistent infection and pre-cancerous lesions attributable to HPV types 16 and 18, included in the vaccine. Additionally, protection beyond those types has been proven, particularly against HPV 45 and 31, which, together with HPV 16 and HPV 18 account for about 80% of all cervical cancers both in Latin America and all over the world.

Worldwide, cervical cancer is an important cause of morbidity and mortality. Every year, approximately 500,000 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer and more than 270,000 die from this disease. It represents the second cause of death by cancer among women throughout the world, holding the top position in several developing countries.

Latin America and the Caribbean do not escape this situation; as a matter of fact, close to 86,532 new cases are diagnosed every year, with about 38,436 women dying from it.  According to the World Health Organisation (2004), in Jamaica, cervical cancer is the second cause of death among women, with an incidence of 28.8 per 100,000 women, and a mortality of 11.3 per 100,000 women.

Cervical cancer and pre-cancerous lesions also cause a significant emotional and physical impact on women, thus, together with screening and a healthy lifestyle, vaccination is expected to significantly reduce the risk of developing cervical cancer and enhance the quality of life of all vaccinated women.

“The availability of Cervarix® in Jamaica represents a step forward in the prevention against cervical cancer in this country” said María Mercedes Castrejón, Medical Director of GlaxoSmithKline’s Biologicals for the Caribbean, Central America, Colombia and Venezuela.  “By providing a strong, broad and sustained immune response, Cervarix® will help reduce the burden of cervical cancer, providing benefits to thousands of women from different generations and their families”.

Thus, it is very important to highlight that this protection against HPV is already available through private practice for women aged 10 years and older in Jamaica, so you can ask your physician for it.

Countries all over the world have shown their interest in attaining a reduction of the incidence of this deadly disease, although, so far, Panama is the only Latin American country that has taken the forefront by including this vaccine in its expanded immunisation programme, in order to prevent cervical cancer in every girl between the ages of 10 and 11 years.

About cervical cancer and its progression

To date, approximately 100 types of HPV have been identified and of these, approximately 15 virus types have been linked to the development of cervical cancer. HPVs 16 and 18 are responsible for approximately 70% of cervical cancers and together with HPV 45 and HPV 31 represent about 80% of cervical cancers worldwide and in Latin America.

It is known that, throughout their sexually active life, up to 80% of all women are at risk of becoming infected with some type of cancer-causing HPV; however, most of these infections will resolve spontaneously. Whenever this does not occur and the infection persists, lesions may appear that can progress to become pre-cancerous or even turn into cervical cancer.

In order to confer strong, broad and sustained protection, the vaccine was especially formulated with GSK’s proprietary AS04 adjuvant system.  To date, Cervarix® has been approved in 97 countries around the world, including the 27 member states of the European Union, Australia, Brazil, Korea, Mexico, U.S. and Taiwan.

GlaxoSmithKline, one of the world’s leading research-based pharmaceutical and healthcare companies — is committed to improving the quality of human life by enabling people to do more, feel better and live longer.

Cervarix® is a registered trademark of the GlaxoSmithKline group of companies.