Ben Bradshaw – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Bradshaw on 2016-03-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the potential change in the prevalence of genital warts following the award of the contract for supply of human papillomavirus vaccine to the bivalent vaccine.
Jane Ellison
The human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccination programme was introduced in 2008, when the bivalent vaccine Cervarix was administered. From September 2012, following a competitive tender exercise, the quadrivalent vaccine Gardasil was introduced.
Both protect against the two strains of HPV (HPV16 and HPV18) that cause 70% of cervical cancer. Gardasil also protects against the two HPV types that cause around 90% of all genital warts (HPV6 and HPV11).
A decrease in genital warts was not anticipated for the bivalent HPV vaccine, Cervarix. An estimate of the change in prevalence of genital warts has not been carried out.
However, rates of genital warts in genito-urinary medicine (GUM) clinics have declined significantly amongst the population vaccinated. Data reported to Public Health England from GUM clinics shows a reduction in rates of genital warts diagnoses at GUM clinics between 2009 and 2014 of 30.6% in 15-19 year-old females and 25.4% amongst same age heterosexual males.
