❓ The Minister for Health provides details on the WA schoolgirl cervical cancer vaccination program, including its scope, funding, and implementation, urging parental consent and highlighting the importance of continued screening.
AnsweredQoN 137Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
CERVICAL CANCER - VACCINATION PROGRAM
Can the minister provide the house with details about the program that will vaccinate Western Australian teenage schoolgirls against cervical cancer? Mr J.A. McGINTY
Can the minister provide the house with details about the program that will vaccinate Western Australian teenage schoolgirls against cervical cancer? Mr J.A. McGINTY
AnswerView source ↗
This morning I visited Perth Modern School to meet the Western Australian schoolgirls who will be the first to receive the free vaccine to protect them against cervical cancer. The vaccination is a great innovation that was developed by Australian of the Year Ian Frazer. We are quickly moving cooperatively with the federal government to vaccinate Western Australia’s 90 000 schoolgirls to protect them from cervical cancer. Each year about 90 Western Australian women are diagnosed with cervical cancer and, of those, some 30 women die from the disease. The vaccine has been designed to neutralise the effect of the human papilloma virus which, if left undetected, can lead to cervical cancer. The vaccine will be available free of charge to all women between the ages of 12 and 26. The vaccine itself will cost approximately $50 million in Western Australia. That money will be provided by the commonwealth government. The state government will fund the coordination of the vaccination process, including the school-based vaccination program. From June 2009, once everyone has been caught up with as part of the program, there will be an ongoing school-based immunisation program for girls aged between 12 and 13 years. This year and next year, all schoolgirls will be vaccinated in order to catch up with the backlog of work. For the benefit of country members, in some rural areas the catch-up program will occur more quickly than would otherwise be the case, in view of the relative logistics of providing this vaccination. This vaccine does not protect against all strains of HPV. Therefore, it is critical that women who have had the benefit of this vaccination continue to have regular pap smears. The reason this vaccine is being provided to schoolgirls is that it is most effective when it is given to females before they are likely to be exposed to HPV; that is, before they become sexually active. It is a three-dose schedule. The full course of immunisations will take place over a four to six-month time frame. We are in the process of urging every parent in Western Australia to consider giving consent to the immunisation. The immunisation will not take place unless parents consent to it. I am aware that there has been some public criticism about offering the vaccine to young schoolgirls. I simply say to those people who are contemplating refusing to give their consent to the immunisation that the alternative may well be that their daughter contracts cervical cancer and dies. I urge all parents to support this initiative.
Mr J.A. McGINTY replied: This morning I visited Perth Modern School to meet the Western Australian schoolgirls who will be the first to receive the free vaccine to protect them against cervical cancer. The vaccination is a great innovation that was developed by Australian of the Year Ian Frazer. We are quickly moving cooperatively with the federal government to vaccinate Western Australia’s 90 000 schoolgirls to protect them from cervical cancer. Each year about 90 Western Australian women are diagnosed with cervical cancer and, of those, some 30 women die from the disease. The vaccine has been designed to neutralise the effect of the human papilloma virus which, if left undetected, can lead to cervical cancer. The vaccine will be available free of charge to all women between the ages of 12 and 26. The vaccine itself will cost approximately $50 million in Western Australia. That money will be provided by the commonwealth government. The state government will fund the coordination of the vaccination process, including the school-based vaccination program. From June 2009, once everyone has been caught up with as part of the program, there will be an ongoing school-based immunisation program for girls aged between 12 and 13 years. This year and next year, all schoolgirls will be vaccinated in order to catch up with the backlog of work. For the benefit of country members, in some rural areas the catch-up program will occur more quickly than would otherwise be the case, in view of the relative logistics of providing this vaccination. This vaccine does not protect against all strains of HPV. Therefore, it is critical that women who have had the benefit of this vaccination continue to have regular pap smears. The reason this vaccine is being provided to schoolgirls is that it is most effective when it is given to females before they are likely to be exposed to HPV; that is, before they become sexually active. It is a three-dose schedule. The full course of immunisations will take place over a four to six-month time frame. We are in the process of urging every parent in Western Australia to consider giving consent to the immunisation. The immunisation will not take place unless parents consent to it. I am aware that there has been some public criticism about offering the vaccine to young schoolgirls. I simply say to those people who are contemplating refusing to give their consent to the immunisation that the alternative may well be that their daughter contracts cervical cancer and dies. I urge all parents to support this initiative.
This morning I visited Perth Modern School to meet the Western Australian schoolgirls who will be the first to receive the free vaccine to protect them against cervical cancer. The vaccination is a great innovation that was developed by Australian of the Year Ian Frazer. We are quickly moving cooperatively with the federal government to vaccinate Western Australia’s 90 000 schoolgirls to protect them from cervical cancer. Each year about 90 Western Australian women are diagnosed with cervical cancer and, of those, some 30 women die from the disease. The vaccine has been designed to neutralise the effect of the human papilloma virus which, if left undetected, can lead to cervical cancer. The vaccine will be available free of charge to all women between the ages of 12 and 26. The vaccine itself will cost approximately $50 million in Western Australia. That money will be provided by the commonwealth government. The state government will fund the coordination of the vaccination process, including the school-based vaccination program. From June 2009, once everyone has been caught up with as part of the program, there will be an ongoing school-based immunisation program for girls aged between 12 and 13 years. This year and next year, all schoolgirls will be vaccinated in order to catch up with the backlog of work. For the benefit of country members, in some rural areas the catch-up program will occur more quickly than would otherwise be the case, in view of the relative logistics of providing this vaccination. This vaccine does not protect against all strains of HPV. Therefore, it is critical that women who have had the benefit of this vaccination continue to have regular pap smears. The reason this vaccine is being provided to schoolgirls is that it is most effective when it is given to females before they are likely to be exposed to HPV; that is, before they become sexually active. It is a three-dose schedule. The full course of immunisations will take place over a four to six-month time frame. We are in the process of urging every parent in Western Australia to consider giving consent to the immunisation. The immunisation will not take place unless parents consent to it. I am aware that there has been some public criticism about offering the vaccine to young schoolgirls. I simply say to those people who are contemplating refusing to give their consent to the immunisation that the alternative may well be that their daughter contracts cervical cancer and dies. I urge all parents to support this initiative.
The vaccine itself will cost approximately $50 million in Western Australia. That money will be provided by the commonwealth government. The state government will fund the coordination of the vaccination process, including the school-based vaccination program. From June 2009, once everyone has been caught up with as part of the program, there will be an ongoing school-based immunisation program for girls aged between 12 and 13 years. This year and next year, all schoolgirls will be vaccinated in order to catch up with the backlog of work. For the benefit of country members, in some rural areas the catch-up program will occur more quickly than would otherwise be the case, in view of the relative logistics of providing this vaccination. This vaccine does not protect against all strains of HPV. Therefore, it is critical that women who have had the benefit of this vaccination continue to have regular pap smears. The reason this vaccine is being provided to schoolgirls is that it is most effective when it is given to females before they are likely to be exposed to HPV; that is, before they become sexually active. It is a three-dose schedule. The full course of immunisations will take place over a four to six-month time frame. We are in the process of urging every parent in Western Australia to consider giving consent to the immunisation. The immunisation will not take place unless parents consent to it. I am aware that there has been some public criticism about offering the vaccine to young schoolgirls. I simply say to those people who are contemplating refusing to give their consent to the immunisation that the alternative may well be that their daughter contracts cervical cancer and dies. I urge all parents to support this initiative.
Mr J.A. McGINTY replied: This morning I visited Perth Modern School to meet the Western Australian schoolgirls who will be the first to receive the free vaccine to protect them against cervical cancer. The vaccination is a great innovation that was developed by Australian of the Year Ian Frazer. We are quickly moving cooperatively with the federal government to vaccinate Western Australia’s 90 000 schoolgirls to protect them from cervical cancer. Each year about 90 Western Australian women are diagnosed with cervical cancer and, of those, some 30 women die from the disease. The vaccine has been designed to neutralise the effect of the human papilloma virus which, if left undetected, can lead to cervical cancer. The vaccine will be available free of charge to all women between the ages of 12 and 26. The vaccine itself will cost approximately $50 million in Western Australia. That money will be provided by the commonwealth government. The state government will fund the coordination of the vaccination process, including the school-based vaccination program. From June 2009, once everyone has been caught up with as part of the program, there will be an ongoing school-based immunisation program for girls aged between 12 and 13 years. This year and next year, all schoolgirls will be vaccinated in order to catch up with the backlog of work. For the benefit of country members, in some rural areas the catch-up program will occur more quickly than would otherwise be the case, in view of the relative logistics of providing this vaccination. This vaccine does not protect against all strains of HPV. Therefore, it is critical that women who have had the benefit of this vaccination continue to have regular pap smears. The reason this vaccine is being provided to schoolgirls is that it is most effective when it is given to females before they are likely to be exposed to HPV; that is, before they become sexually active. It is a three-dose schedule. The full course of immunisations will take place over a four to six-month time frame. We are in the process of urging every parent in Western Australia to consider giving consent to the immunisation. The immunisation will not take place unless parents consent to it. I am aware that there has been some public criticism about offering the vaccine to young schoolgirls. I simply say to those people who are contemplating refusing to give their consent to the immunisation that the alternative may well be that their daughter contracts cervical cancer and dies. I urge all parents to support this initiative.
This morning I visited Perth Modern School to meet the Western Australian schoolgirls who will be the first to receive the free vaccine to protect them against cervical cancer. The vaccination is a great innovation that was developed by Australian of the Year Ian Frazer. We are quickly moving cooperatively with the federal government to vaccinate Western Australia’s 90 000 schoolgirls to protect them from cervical cancer. Each year about 90 Western Australian women are diagnosed with cervical cancer and, of those, some 30 women die from the disease. The vaccine has been designed to neutralise the effect of the human papilloma virus which, if left undetected, can lead to cervical cancer. The vaccine will be available free of charge to all women between the ages of 12 and 26. The vaccine itself will cost approximately $50 million in Western Australia. That money will be provided by the commonwealth government. The state government will fund the coordination of the vaccination process, including the school-based vaccination program. From June 2009, once everyone has been caught up with as part of the program, there will be an ongoing school-based immunisation program for girls aged between 12 and 13 years. This year and next year, all schoolgirls will be vaccinated in order to catch up with the backlog of work. For the benefit of country members, in some rural areas the catch-up program will occur more quickly than would otherwise be the case, in view of the relative logistics of providing this vaccination. This vaccine does not protect against all strains of HPV. Therefore, it is critical that women who have had the benefit of this vaccination continue to have regular pap smears. The reason this vaccine is being provided to schoolgirls is that it is most effective when it is given to females before they are likely to be exposed to HPV; that is, before they become sexually active. It is a three-dose schedule. The full course of immunisations will take place over a four to six-month time frame. We are in the process of urging every parent in Western Australia to consider giving consent to the immunisation. The immunisation will not take place unless parents consent to it. I am aware that there has been some public criticism about offering the vaccine to young schoolgirls. I simply say to those people who are contemplating refusing to give their consent to the immunisation that the alternative may well be that their daughter contracts cervical cancer and dies. I urge all parents to support this initiative.
The vaccine itself will cost approximately $50 million in Western Australia. That money will be provided by the commonwealth government. The state government will fund the coordination of the vaccination process, including the school-based vaccination program. From June 2009, once everyone has been caught up with as part of the program, there will be an ongoing school-based immunisation program for girls aged between 12 and 13 years. This year and next year, all schoolgirls will be vaccinated in order to catch up with the backlog of work. For the benefit of country members, in some rural areas the catch-up program will occur more quickly than would otherwise be the case, in view of the relative logistics of providing this vaccination. This vaccine does not protect against all strains of HPV. Therefore, it is critical that women who have had the benefit of this vaccination continue to have regular pap smears. The reason this vaccine is being provided to schoolgirls is that it is most effective when it is given to females before they are likely to be exposed to HPV; that is, before they become sexually active. It is a three-dose schedule. The full course of immunisations will take place over a four to six-month time frame. We are in the process of urging every parent in Western Australia to consider giving consent to the immunisation. The immunisation will not take place unless parents consent to it. I am aware that there has been some public criticism about offering the vaccine to young schoolgirls. I simply say to those people who are contemplating refusing to give their consent to the immunisation that the alternative may well be that their daughter contracts cervical cancer and dies. I urge all parents to support this initiative.
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