London Boots the chemist is offering vaccinations against a sexually transmitted infection that can cause cervical cancer. The pilot scheme will be available to young women who are just outside the age group of a national immunisation campaign.

Ten stores in London will offer a vaccination service to help to protect women aged 18 to 26 against strains of human papilloma virus, which are considered to be responsible for up to 70 per cent of cervical cancer. The national NHS vaccination programme for girls aged 12 and 13 began in schools in September and a catch-up service for girls aged 14 to 18 is being introduced.

Boots said that it had conducted a survey in which 65 per cent of women said that they would visit a pharmacy to request and buy three courses of a vaccine over six months. Patients wishing to have the jab must be registered with a GP.

Graham Marshall, Boots medical director, said: “As this vaccination is only available on the NHS through the schools’ vaccination programme, most young women aged 18 to 26 will not be aware that they could benefit from the vaccine.”

In Britain, about a thousand women a year die as a result of cervical cancer and it is the second-most-common cancer in women under 35.

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