Vaccination against the human papillomavirus (HPV) offers highly effective protection against cervical cancer. These findings are from the first group of women who could get the HPV vaccination and have a smear test.
Key research results
- Women who had an HPV vaccination at the age of 16 years were 90% protected against cervical cancer.
- Vaccinated women also had 80% protection against serious precancerous abnormalities that could develop into cervical cancer (CIN3+).
Research
The study collected data from 104,661 women. These women were born in 1993 and invited to get the HPV vaccination when they were 16 years old. 46% of these women were fully vaccinated against HPV, 5% were partly vaccinated, and 49% did not get the HPV vaccination. Around the age of 30, they received an invitation for the national population screening programme for cervical cancer, and could take part by using a self-sampling test kit or getting a smear test. Some had a smear test at an earlier age for medical reasons. The data on the HPV vaccination was linked to the test results from cervical samples in the Dutch pathology database (Palga).
HPV-vaccination
Since 2010, the HPV vaccination has been available to girls aged 12 and 13 years. The women in this study were able to get the HPV vaccination in 2009, during a vaccination campaign for girls aged 13 to 16 years. Since 2022, children have been invited for the HPV vaccination in the year that they turn 10