Science Media Centre

As students head back to school this week, boys, as well as girls, will have funded access to the HPV vaccine Gardasil. The rollout follows Pharmac’s decision last year to extend the vaccine programme. Though Gardasil is commonly known to protect against cervical cancer, human papillomavirus (HPV) also causes other cancers in both men and women. […]

Researchers at the University of Otago have made new gains in learning about one of the main viruses that causes cervical cancer and say their findings could lead to new therapies. The team, led by Associate Professor Merilyn Hibma, found a protein called E7 could play a key role in suppressing the body’s immune response […]

From 2018, women will begin cervical screening at age 25 – instead of 20 – based on evidence that suggests screening younger women does more harm than good. The Ministry of Health announced the change today, with clinical director of the National Screening Unit Dr Jane O’Hallahan saying the human papillomavirus (HPV) causes more than 90 […]

Pharmac will extend funding for HPV vaccine Gardasil to also cover boys and will change the vaccine type to cover more varieties of HPV. Following public consultation, Pharmac announced several changes to the vaccination schedule, including funding the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine for boys. HPV can cause several types of cancer, including cervical and throat […]

New international research indicates that just one dose of the Cervarix HPV vaccine – currently unavailable in New Zealand – could prevent the majority of cervical cancers. UPDATE: New comment below. Vaccination against human papillomavirus (HPV) can protect against infection and the risk of developing cervical cancer and a range of other HPV related diseases […]

Claims relating to vaccine safety are back in the media spotlight as an inquest into the unexplained death of teenager Jasmine Renata in 2009 continues.  The family has told the coroner they believe the death is linked to the Gardasil vaccine for human papilloma virus (HPV) that Ms Renata received six months earlier, and today […]

Research published today in The Lancet shows that about half of the general population in the US, Brazil and Mexico are infected with the HPV virus, and that every year, 6% of men with be infected with HPV 16, the virus which causes cervical and other cancer in women (and men). Other cancers caused by […]

AusSMC: Australia’s free human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine program for young women has decreased the diagnosis of genital warts by 59 per cent in that age group. A University of New South Wales study published today in Lancet Infectious Diseases has found that men may have also benefited from this positive spin-off, with a decrease in […]

Janine Rankin writes in the Manawatu Standard about the gardasil vaccine, which health experts are urging young women to use to protect themselves from infection by the HPV virus. The virus is known to cause cervical cancer in some women, and some experts are hailing the vaccine as a ‘major breakthrough’, although it has become […]

Janine Rankin writes in the Manawatu Standard about the importance of detection and prevention of cervical cancer. New Zealand’s ability to do so has improved recently due to more accurate smear tests which are able to test for the HPV virus at the same time, and professional are also urging young women to be vaccinated. […]