HPV causes growths to appear on the skin or mucous membranes.
Although there are more than 100 types of this virus, some of them may lead to different types of cancer, as it is transmitted through sexual contact.
The study says, published in the magazineLancetprestigious world, The Cervical Cancer Virus Program has prevented about 450 types of cancer, and 17,200 pre-cancerous cases among the vaccinated population.
Researchers at King’s College London and the British government examined data on cancer incidence, according to the British Population Standard between January 2006 and June 2019.
Professor Peter Sasini, one of the researchers at King’s College London, explained: “The impact (of the vaccine) has been enormous.”
He added that this is “just the beginning” because those who were vaccinated are still young and not exposed to cancer, and from here the numbers will increase over time.
The research included comparing 7 groups of women who were vaccinated with others who did not receive the vaccination.
The researchers concluded that the group that received the vaccine at an early stage had the most protection.
“This study provides the first direct evidence of the effect of the anti-HIV vaccine in reducing the incidence of cervical cancer,” says co-author Kate Soldan.
She considered that what happened is an important step in the prevention of cervical cancer, expressing her hope that these results will lead to an expansion of the scope of vaccination with this drug, because the success of the vaccination program depends not only on the effectiveness of the vaccine, but on the proportion of the population who take it.
Last year, the World Health Organization launched a global strategy to accelerate the eradication of cervical cancer, in the first international commitment to eradicate this type of cancer.
The vaccine is given to girls between the ages of 11 and 13, depending on where they live in Britain. The vaccine has also been offered to boys since 2019.
This strategy pursues the goal of having 90 percent of girls fully vaccinated against HPV by age 15.
.