 The vaccine will be offered to teenage girls from September |
The Royal College of Nursing has questioned whether enough cash has been allocated to fund a cancer vaccination programme for teenage girls. Ministers said �64m would be spent over the next three years on an immunisation programme to protect young girls from cervical cancer. Public Health Minister Shona Robison said the project had "the potential to save hundreds of lives each year". About 180,000 teenage girls are expected to receive the jab. The Human Papilloma Virus vaccine will be offered to all teenage girls under 18 from September. RCN Scotland director Theresa Fyffe said: "We welcome the HPV immunisation programme, which will deliver health benefits for young women now and in the future, and support the moves to improve public health in Scotland. "We question, however, whether the government has allocated sufficient resources to health boards to roll out the immunisation programme and if there are enough school nurses to do this. "Education and training is required for the school nurse workforce about HPV itself. It's not only a question of administering a jab: school nurses are trained to deal with young people and will be able to answer their queries in an appropriate and informed way." There were 102 deaths from cervical cancer recorded in Scotland in 2004, with 282 new cases diagnosed. Scotland's programme will start a year ahead of similar schemes in the rest of the UK, with each dose believed to cost about �250.  Theresa Fyffe fears the vaccine programme may be underfunded |
Girls will receive the immunisation at the age of 12 or 13, with a "catch-up" campaign being run to immunise girls aged between 13 and 17. Public Health Minister Shona Robison said: "This is one of the biggest and most complex immunisation programme ever undertaken in Scotland. "But it has potential to deliver tremendous health benefits for future generations of young women, offering them protection against the virus responsible for almost three quarters of cervical cancers. "We're also acting quickly - a year ahead of the rest of the UK - to begin the catch-up process, ensuring that as many young women as possible receive the protection this vaccine can offer." Two particular strains of HPV, known as types 16 and 18, are responsible for about 70% of all cervical cancers.
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It has potential to deliver tremendous health benefits for future generations of young women
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