Dr. Bosch Discusses the Importance of the HPV Vaccine

Xavier Bosch, MD, MPH, Unit of Infections and Cancer (UNIC), Cancer Epidemiology Research Programme, Institut Catala d' Oncologia—Catalan Institute of Oncology, discusses the importance of the HPV vaccine in the prevention of cervical cancer.

Many countries are vaccinating at a high rate of 85% to 95%, but hesitancies remain. Bosch says that there are generally no safety concerns with the HPV vaccination, which is a claim supported by the World Health Organization and the scientific community, who have examined every claim on undesirable side effects in detail.

The HPV vaccine can potentially prevent more than 90% of cervical cancer, as well as a large proportion of other cancers caused by certain HPV types. Internationally, the vaccine is nearly standard care, Bosch says.

These claims create an environment of suspicion in the community, which challenges the decision to give it to patients. This has been seen with the polio vaccine, measles, and other virally induced infectious diseases, Bosch explains, resulting in outbreaks of a once-controlled disease due to under vaccination.