KEY POINTS:
The Ministry of Health is to make a decision on whether to include a cervical cancer vaccine in the national immunisation programme by this year's budget.
Health Minister Pete Hodgson has been considering recommendations on whether to include the Gardasil vaccine in the programme from 2008.
If it is to be included, a further decision will need to be made on what age the vaccine should be made available.
A ministry spokeswoman said today the recommendations, made last year by the national immunisation programme's technical working group, would not be made public until May's budget announcement.
Australia will launch its nationwide vaccination campaign next month.
The school vaccination programme is for girls aged 12 to 13, and there will be a "catch up" programme through schools for girls aged between 13 and 18.
For women aged 18 to 26 the vaccine would be available for two years through GPs.
In the United States, pharmaceuticals giant Merck & Co announced yesterday the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention had adopted the recommendation of an advisory panel that its vaccine against cervical cancer routinely be given to females aged 11 through to 26.
Gardasil protects against the human papilloma virus (HPV), also known as human wart virus.
A few high risk types of the virus can lead to abnormal pre-cancerous cells, with two strains of HPV accounting for between 50 and 70 per cent of "high risk" cervical infections.
HPV is widespread among sexually active women.
Advocates here have argued for the vaccine to be included in the programme once girls reach age 11.
By targeting girls before they become sexually active, advocates say infection rates can be dramatically reduced, and expect Gardasil to prove 70 per cent effective in preventing cervical cancer.
Around 180 New Zealand women are diagnosed with cervical cancer every year, and a third of them die.
Gardasil is currently available through GPs for about $450.
Women who have received the vaccination will still need to have pap smears.
The total cost of the Australian programme was estimated to be A$436 million ($499.54 million) between 2006-07 and 2009-10.
- NZPA
