There are two cervical cancer vaccines Gardasil® and Ceravix® which guard against about 70% of the infections that can cause cervical cancer.

Gardasil protects against two of the cancer-causing strains of HPV and two that are responsible for causing genital warts. Gardasil is recommended for girls from 9 years of age to young women up to 26 years. It guards against the HPV types 6, 11, 16 and 18.

Even for those who are already sexually active, it would be unlikely that you would have been exposed to all the types of HPV the vaccine guards against, so it can still guard against those viruses that you have not yet been exposed to.

Cervarix protects against HPV types 16 and 18 and is used to vaccinate both young girls from 10 years of age to women up to 45 years.

Professor Ian Frazer discusses his invention of the HPV vaccine against cervical cancer from GAVI Alliance on Vimeo.

See your health care professional for more information or contact the National HPV Vaccination Program. (See our helpful links page)