While the previous Gardasil vaccine protected against 70% of cervical cancers, the updated Gardasil 9 version will protect against up to 93% of these.
Prevention against cervical cancer is the main aim of the Gardasil vaccine. But HPV is also linked to a large proportion of anal, vaginal and head and neck cancers.
The HPV jab given from 2008 with new testing procedures from 2019 could mean women need fewer tests over a lifetime.
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Smear tests are no fun for women, and the HPV vaccine and better screening will offer better protection from cancer and fewer trips to the women.
For young women, receiving the cervical cancer vaccine has also meant a massive drop in genital warts, which are caused by the same virus.
A new study has found rates of genital warts have decreased significantly since the HPV vaccine was introduced.
Girl receiving an HPV vaccine shot.
A vaccine to prevent cancer was long a dream for those who treat the disease. But fewer than half of all girls and even fewer boys have been vaccinated. Cancer specialists hope this will soon change.
A cancer patient from Inner Mongolia seeks treatment in Beijing.
Of women who die from cervical cancer, 87% live in poor countries.
Cancer patient Cao Dongxian poses with CT scan images of his intestine at a hotel room where he stays, near the Peking Union Hospital.
Developing brand new treatments and cures isn't the only way to achieve a major reduction in cancer deaths worldwide.
As of January 2016, Gardasil has been administered in more than 200 million doses worldwide.
MICK TSIKAS/AAP Image
The best way to prevent head and neck cancers, which are more common in men, is to get the HPV vaccine. It's free for boys and girls aged 12 and 13.
A nurse administers the HPV vaccine in Dallas, Texas in 2007.
Individual stories of perceived vaccine harms can undermine trust in vaccine safety, even if people don't believe the vaccine was to blame.
Given the increasing number of vaccines recommended for adolescents and adults in Australia, the newly announced initiatives are a very good idea.
Tucked away in the budget papers is an intitiative worthy of applause – the establishment of an adult immunisation register and the expansion of the childhood register to include adolescents.
Not just about girls.
Teens by Shutterstock
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