School nurses in Bradford and Airedale are being trained to give schoolgirls a vaccine to protect them against cervical cancer.
From October, around 3,200 girls aged 12 and 13 in the Bradford district will be urged to have three jabs over six to 12 months in school to help give them vital protection against a virus which can develop into cancer.
The scheme is part of a nat
ional immunisation programme against Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) which will be delivered in schools by school nurses.
Now health professionals from Bradford and Airedale Teaching Primary Care Trust and Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust are inviting headteachers, teachers and school nurses to take part in drop-in information sessions throughout May explaining more about the vaccine.
Shirley Brierley, public health consultant from Bradford and Airedale Teaching Primary Care Trust, said: "Our priority is to protect girls in their early teens, and I would urge all girls in these age groups to have the full course of jabs to protect themselves against cervical cancer.
"It is important for women to continue to have cervical smear tests, too, as the national cervical screening programme remains essential to the prevention of cervical cancer, especially as the disease often shows no symptoms. This will remain unchanged following the introduction of HPV immunisation."
The HPV vaccination campaign will start in the autumn term, continue through winter and into spring. Parents and guardians will receive letters giving information about the vaccine and asking for written consent for their daughters to be vaccinated.
In autumn 2009 girls aged 16 and 18 will also be asked to be vaccinated and then in autumn 2010 there will be immunisation for girls aged 15 and 17.
These will be carried out alongside the annual programme for girls aged 12 and 13.
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