NEW YORK: The Food and Drug Administration yesterday awarded license to the world's first vaccine for cervical cancer. The vaccine named Gardasil was tested over 21,000 women around the world over the last six months. Although hailed as breakthrough, the vaccine has raised questions about who will bear the cost of dispensing the vaccine.
The vaccine will protect thousands of women from four types of human papilloma virus (HPV) two of which are responsible for 70 percent of all cases of cervical cancer. The virus is transmitted through sexual intercourse. Cervical cancer is the second most common cause of deaths among women after breast cancer. Every year, about 300,000 deaths from cervical cancer and 500,000 cases are reported worldwide, 20 percent of which are from China. In the US, it kills about 3,700 women.
Gardasil is now before the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) which will decide who must receive it and when. While the FDA approved it for a broader age group of nine to 26, the CDC is likely to make it mandatory for girls aged 11 to 12. It would very likely become another mandatory childhood vaccines like the ones for measles and rubella. The vaccine is to be given in three doses over 6 months and is said to be most effective when given to girls before they become sexually active.
The CDC's recommendations will also determine who will finally bear the cost of dispensing the vaccine. At about $360 per course, the vaccine may seem prohibitive to private insurers and the government who may have to share the cost.
News about the vaccine has been welcomed around the world. Pamela Morton, director of a UK charity called Jo's Trust said “it has the potential to eradicate this cancer”.
Other charity organizations are equally hopeful that women outside the US would also get the benefit of the vaccine. Organizations such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation with their generous funding could help take the drug to women in developing countries.
Meanwhile Merck & Co. which developed the vaccine is currently seeking approvals in other countries. Market watchers believe the vaccine could bring revenues of upto $1bn a year, significantly boosting earnings for the company.
