An Exploration of the Department of Health’s Human Papillomavirus Policy to Vaccinate Girls aged 12-18 years with the Cervarix Vaccine: A Critical Review.

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Campbell, Harriet (2011) An Exploration of the Department of Health’s Human Papillomavirus Policy to Vaccinate Girls aged 12-18 years with the Cervarix Vaccine: A Critical Review. [Dissertation (University of Nottingham only)] (Unpublished)

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Abstract

This critical review explores the debates that surround the English NHS funded human papillomavirus policy. At present girls aged 12-18 years are being vaccinated with the bivalent vaccine (Cervarix). It aims to reduce the incidence of cervical cancer due to the connection between HR HPV and cancer development. The critical review method was justified because it enabled a large amount of literature to be critically analysed.

It was found that there are two main debates that surround the current HPV vaccination policy: vaccination of males and vaccination of women older than 18 years.

The review was able to conclude that males are not included within the HPV programme because the added benefit of herd immunity is not needed as there is a high vaccine uptake among 12-18 year old girls. Also, the added protection against male associated cancers is not justified because they are uncommon. It was also discovered that vaccinating women over the age of 18 years is not cost effective because these women are likely to be sexually active, meaning that they are likely to be infected with HPV already. It was found that some women may benefit from vaccination because they may not be infected with the HPV types that the Cervarix vaccine covers. This means that older women may benefit from paying privately for vaccination.

This review emphasises the importance of evidence based practice. Nurses can use this review to explain to patients who are not included within the present vaccination programme about the benefits and limitations of paying privately for HPV vaccination.

Item Type: Dissertation (University of Nottingham only)
Depositing User: EP, Services
Date Deposited: 04 Aug 2011 14:12
Last Modified: 30 Jan 2018 22:12
URI: https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/id/eprint/24786

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