Here at the Australian Cervical Cancer Foundation we very much recommend that girls and young women do have the vaccine. By having the Gardasil vaccine they will be protected against 4 types of the HPV virus which is the known cause of cervical cancer. They will be protected against types 8 and 11 that cause genital warts and types 16 and 18 which cause 70-80% of cervical cancers.
This means that your daughter will still need to have Pap tests in the future but her risk of getting cervical cancer and genital warts is greatly reduced.
All Australian girls in years 7 and 8 are offered the vaccine for free. If girls miss out on this opportunity they are still able to have it but it will have to be done by their GP at a cost of about $400 for all 3 doses. It is best to have the vaccine before being exposed to HPV so therefore best to have it before becoming sexually active.
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