HPV vaccines are slashing cervical cancer rates by a massive 87 per cent, an English study has found.
Scientists say the cancer, which killed reality star Jade Goody when she was just 27, will become a rare disease thanks to the jabs.
They have been given to teenage girls since 2008 and, in the first 10 years, prevented an estimated 17,200 “pre-cancers” as well as 450 cancer cases in women in their 20s.
Cancer Research UK’s Michelle Mitchell said: “It’s a historic moment to see the first study showing that the HPV vaccine has and will continue to protect thousands of women from developing cervical cancer.”
The jab works by preventing HPV, a common sexually transmitted virus which causes almost all cervical cancers.
The study, led by King’s College London, found the vaccine works better when given before girls are sexually active and at risk of catching the virus.
Women in their 20s who got the jab aged 12 or 13 were 87 per cent less likely to get cervical cancer than unvaccinated women.
Getting the vaccine aged 14 to 16 cut the risk by 62 per cent and aged 16 to 18 cut it by 34 per cent.
