South Canterbury will be commencing a school-based Gardasil® programme for 12 year old girls from term one 2013.
The first dose of the National Immunisation Schedule vaccine is currently available through school and doses two and three available through general practice. A number of girls who started their Gardasil® immunisation course have not completed doses two and three with their GP or declined to complete the immunisation course but may still intend to complete the course. Delay in receiving their immunisations leaves them at risk of infection with human papillomavirus.
Australia will be the first country in the world to provide the human papillomavirus vaccine (HPV) to boys under their National Immunisation Programme.
Although extending HPV immunisation to boys is expected to cost A$21.1 million over four years the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee recommended the move after a review of its cost effectiveness. Immunising boys against HPV infection will protect them against developing a range of cancers and bolster the effectiveness of this vaccine in women.
The programme extension will commence in 2013. Boys aged 12 and 13 years will be offered the vaccine through school-based programmes. Year 9 boys will also be able to get the vaccine under a school-based catch-up program for two years.
New Zealand is seeing the same decreasing trend in the number of new genital warts cases since the Gardasil vaccine was introduced as Australia experienced after introducing the vaccine in July 2007.
The Institute of Environmental Science & Research Limited (ESR) monitors the voluntary provision of sexually transmitted infection data and prepares an annual report examining infection trends over time.
The Sexually transmitted infections in New Zealand 2011 Surveillance Report identified decreasing numbers of new genital warts cases between 2008 and 2011. The decreased numbers were most notable in 2010 and 2011 and in females aged 15-19 years. This decrease corresponds with commencement of the HPV immunisation programme (Gardasil) in June 2008. The report is available in full from the ESR Public Health Surveillance website.
Research comparing the number of new cases of genital warts in females who have received the Gardasil vaccine compared with females who have not would provide additional evidence to support this trend.
If the New Zealand continues to follow Australia’s trend for decreasing cases of genital warts, young heterosexual men will also have a significant decrease in new cases through reduced exposure to the infections in young women in the following years.
Figure: Genital warts case numbers in sexual health clinics by District Health Board, 2006-2011. ESR Surveillance Report, Sexually transmitted infections in New Zealand 2011, page 55.
Gardasil® is funded for use for primary immunisation of girls from 12 years of age and young women to protect them from four types of human papillomavirus infection. Gardasil® is not funded but can be used for primary immunisation of females who are not eligible for funded vaccine and within the age group of 9 through 45 years and males aged 9 through 26 years to protect them from four types of human papillomavirus infection.
The Institute of Environmental Science & Research Limited (ESR) Sexually transmitted infections in New Zealand 2011 Surveillance Report identified decreasing numbers of new genital warts cases between 2008 and 2011, most notable in 2010 and 2011 and in females aged 15-19 years, corresponding with commencement of the HPV immunisation programme. The Genital Warts pages from the full report are available here. The full ESR report is available from the ESR Public Health Surveillance website.
A short YouTube DVD, The Story of HPV (Human Papillomavirus), provides information for women, parents and caregivers, health workers and students planning to work in the health sector about the human papillomavirus, the Gardasil® vaccine that helps to protect against HPV, and the importance of cervical screening and practising safer sex in protecting women's health.
