The free vaccine against cancer

No vaccine against cancer of the cervix should be offered to girls in Sweden under the free vaccination program in the country, according to a proposal announced Tuesday by the National Public Health. The government agency "proposes that all girls enrolled in CM1 and CM2 (approximately 10 and 11 years old) were immunized against HPV (human papilloma virus), which may cause cancer," she says in a press release. "It was a very easy decision to take once all the facts were on the table," said the Director General of the National Public Health, Kjell Asplund, the Swedish news agency TT. The proposal was sent to various authorities across the country, which must make public their opinion on April 9 at the latest. The Agency will make its final decision "in the spring", told AFP his spokesman, Anders Tegnell. There are now two new vaccines against HPV 16 and 18 available on the market: the Gardasil and Ceravix. HPV 16 and 18 account for 70% of cancers of the cervix throughout the world. According to the United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA), approximately 500,000 cases of cancer of the cervix are diagnosed each year. Untreated, cancer, if it spreads, is almost always fatal. In Sweden, the new vaccine could save 100 lives each year, said to TT M. Tegnell. Free of the new vaccine would cost the state about 400 million Swedish kronor (32 million euros), according to TT.