HPV Vaccine To Be Funded in Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia will be the first province in Canada to offer the HPV vaccine to its residents. The vaccine has the potential to stop cervical cancer in years to come by preventing the HPV virus. The virus has been proven to cause cancer.

Nova Scotia has the most cases of invasive cervical cancer in Canada. It will be offering the shots as part of the yearly school vaccine program. It is expected that over 1,350 will come down with cervical cancer this year and that there will be 400 women who succumb to the disease. "Cervical cancer, when it develops, we see a lot of women with abnormal pap smears who are in their mid-20s," Dr. Rob Grimshaw, a Halifax-based gynecologic oncologist who's also the medical director of Cancer Care Nova Scotia said.

"We'd expect to see a substantial drop in that group of women within probably 15 years. The full impact from a cancer point of view won't be felt for probably 40 years down the road."

The vaccine has been available since last fall. It has proven to be a well tolerated injection with the females who have taken it. Beginning in the fall grade 7 girls will be given the option to have the three doses of Gardasil. The federal budget set aside $300 million for programs for the vaccine but Nova Scotia is the first to implement it. "There was no reason for not moving ahead (with the program)," Dr. Robert Strang, the province's medical officer, said Wednesday.

"The science is there, the money is now there thanks to the federal government, and so we're taking advantage of the opportunity."