This text in Danish (published 18 January 2016): Markant fald i tilslutningen til HPV-vaccinen
According to new figures from the SSI (Statens Serum Institut), the HPV vaccination rate relating to 12-year-old girls in the childhood immunisation programme is decreasing steadily.
The newly published rate includes vaccinations given up until mid-November 2015. It shows that only 24% of girls born in 2003 have received their first HPV vaccine dose. Corresponding figures for the same period in 2014 of girls born in 2002 showed that 49% had received their first injection.
Note, however, that girls born in 2003 still have time to complete their vaccination course as the free offer runs until they turn 18.
Bolette Søborg, Medical Doctor at the Danish Health Authority (DHA), is concerned with the development.
"If the share of individuals protected by the vaccine decreases, we should regrettably expect to see more cases of cervical cancer and more women dying of cervical cancer. It is important that girls are vaccinated early enough to receive full protection against the risk of exposure to HPV virus before becoming sexually active. This is why we recommend girls to be vaccinated at the age of 12".
She adds that the DHA is continually making efforts to explain parents and children that the HPV vaccine is being monitored and evaluated continuously, and that the DHA still assesses that the benefits of vaccination by far outweigh the possible adverse reactions.
In the autumn, first the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and then the World Health Organization (WHO) each published a safety review of the HPV vaccines. Both reviews concluded that no association between HPV vaccines and the syndromes of POTS and CRPS was found.
At the DHA, Medical Doctor Bolette Søborg hopes that the reviews will help parents feel more safe.
"The debate about the vaccine's possible side effects no doubt swept the media, and I do understand why some parents have chosen to postpone vaccination of their daughters. We therefore hope that the new and thorough reviews can help rebuild trust in the HPV vaccine in the childhood immunisation programme, and that parents will choose for their daughters to be vaccinated, even if they are no longer 12 years old.
The DHA will soon be distributing a new leaflet about HPV vaccination with information for healthcare staff and parents.
The DHA moreover has new recommendations in the pipeline through a collaboration with the five regional centres who have been commissioned to take care of the girls with unresolved symptoms who suspect the symptoms are caused by adverse reactions after HPV vaccination.
The recommendations are to ensure that the girls receive an appropriate offer that is the same for all girls in Denmark.