Arabic version: أستراليا تقترب من القضاء على سرطان عنق الرحم بعد إطلاق غارداسيل
According to ABC News, Australia is on track to eliminate cervical cancer within the next 10 years, two decades after it launched Gardasil, described as the world’s first vaccine against cervical cancer.
The vaccine was co-developed at the University of Queensland by Ian Frazer and his late colleague Jian Zhou. It protects against strains of sexually transmitted human papilloma virus that cause most cervical cancer cases and genital warts, while also safeguarding against many throat, genital and anal cancers.
More than 800 million doses have been administered worldwide. The Gavi Vaccine Alliance estimates a three-year immunisation program beginning in 2023 would prevent 1.4 million future deaths across low- and middle-income countries. The vaccine is now included in immunisation programs in 165 countries.
Griffith University infectious diseases professor Nigel McMillan said Australia could still see sporadic cases, but that cervical cancer would generally become “a disease of the past”. Australia was the first country to fully fund an HPV immunisation program. Gardasil has been free for girls and young women up to age 26 since 2007, with boys and young men added in 2013.
However, Australian Immunisation Register data shows coverage is declining. HPV vaccine coverage among girls by their 15th birthday fell from 86.6 per cent in 2020 to 78.7 per cent in 2025. For boys aged 15, coverage dropped from 84.9 per cent to 75.6 per cent. University of Melbourne professor Julia Brotherton called the fall below 80 per cent “really concerning”.
