Latest news with #CarolineTemmink
Daily Mail
26-05-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
Cervical cancer fears grow as number of female pupils having HPV jab falls to 73 per cent on the back of pandemic 'vaccine fatigue'
The plan to eradicate cervical cancer in England is under threat due to a decline in children receiving the HPV vaccine in schools. Officials say parents' reluctance to have their children vaccinated since the pandemic has caused a 17 percentage point fall in the number of pupils having the human papillomavirus (HPV) jab. For girls aged 12 to 13, vaccination rates fell from 90 per cent before 2020 to 73 per cent last year. For boys, it fell from 82 per cent to 68 per cent, according to The Sunday Times. Schools blame the lowered rates on parents increasingly declining or not returning consent forms. Officials reportedly fear 'vaccine fatigue' is to blame for the fall, a phenomenon that has also affected other vaccination schemes. Vaccine fatigue is linked to a weariness towards jabs and public health appeals following excessive exposure to them during the pandemic. HPV causes 99 per cent of all cervical cancer cases and can lead to various cancers in men, resulting in hundreds of deaths a year. The success of the HPV vaccine, introduced in 2008, coupled with smear testing has seen death rates fall by 75 per cent since the 1970s. If the NHS is to eliminate cervical cancer by 2040, it must get vaccination rates back by 2030 and ensure women receive a smear test at least once by the age of 35 and again by 45. Caroline Temmink, NHS England's director of vaccination, said she was still confident cervical cancer could be eliminated and vaccine rates could be restored. 'But we need parents to work with us,' she told The Sunday Times. 'There's still an element of hesitancy and vaccine fatigue following the pandemic as well,' she said. 'We just want to make sure that people understand the importance of getting the vaccine.' The Department of Health announced 28 hospitals will receive new radiotherapy machines, cutting waiting times and helping 4,500 more patients get treatment faster. Health Secretary Wes Streeting said 'As a cancer survivor, I know just how important timely treatment is.'
Daily Mirror
25-05-2025
- Health
- Daily Mirror
A slump in children getting vaccines could thwart bid to wipe out disease
More parents have been saying no to vaccines for their children which could derail plan to "eradicate" cervical cancer by 2040 A slump in the number of children being vaccinated in schools is threatening a plan to 'eradicate' cervical cancer in England. Schools are seeing a reluctance by some parents to get their children protected against the human papillomavirus, or HPV, since the end of the pandemic. There has been a 17 percent fall in the numbers getting the jab for HPV which causes 99 per cent of all cervical cancers, killing thousands of women every year. The main reason for the drop off has been blamed on 'vaccine fatigue' which has also hit children's injections for measles, meningitis and diphtheria. Other factors have been increased pupil absences from school since Covid - which has almost doubled. In 2023 to 2024, 1.49 million children were persistently absent from school, 20 per cent of all pupils. Before Covid it was 11 per cent. One reason given by School Age Immunisation Services (SAIS) providers for the gradual decline in HPV coverage is the number of non-returned and declined consent forms from parents. There has also been a 'vaccine hesitancy and fatigue' following the pandemic. Staffing issues making it more 'challenging' to chase up parents for their forms have also been blamed. Over the years the double whammy of vaccination and smear-test screening has meant death rates have fallen by 75 per cent since the 1970s. By 2019 the figure in England had dropped from 853 to 685 deaths a year. But there are concerns the battle against cervical cancer could be derailed with the 90 per cent of girls aged 12 to 13 having vaccinations before the pandemic, dropping to 73 per cent last year. For boys, it went from 82 per cent to just 68 per cent. NHS England is now launching a catch-up campaign for children, according to the Sunday Times, in a bid to eliminate the disease by 2040. To keep on track it has to get vaccination rates back up to 90 per cent by 2030. The campaign will ask parents to talk about why they have declined the jabs. All youngsters aged 12 and 13 are eligible for HPV vaccinations and adults can also request one from their GP up to the age of 25. Caroline Temmink, NHS England's director of vaccination, said she was still very confident that cervical cancer could be eliminated and the vaccine rates could be restored. "But we need parents to work with us," The Sunday Times reported. "It's really exciting to have the opportunity to say to this whole generation that cervical cancer and some other cancers shouldn't be a risk for you." London has the worst rate of this vaccine coverage, down as low as 61 per cent, while in the wider southeast of England it is up to almost 80 per cent. Baroness Longfield, executive chairwoman of the Centre for Young Lives, said: "Progress is being made in boosting school attendance, but the numbers are still unacceptably high. All the evidence shows that missing school impacts on attainment and life chances, Children who are severely or persistently absent are inevitably at greater risk of missing out on important health interventions, including HPV jabs. The drop in uptake since Covid is extremely concerning, and a setback in the battle to eradicate cervical cancer by 2040." The HPV vaccine was introduced in 2008 and is initially offered to 12 and 13 year-olds but school vaccination providers will also offer jabs to pupils aged up to 15 and 16.
