British authorities are still considering whether and how to introduce cervical cancer vaccination in the UK. The issue has both cost and ethical implications, and some critics have accused the drug industry with attempting to rush a decision through.

Only in Scotland has a promise to provide a vaccine been made, and then only if Labour wins the local election in May. Jack McConnell, the First Minister, promised that if Labour were returned, girls aged between 12 and 14 would be given the vaccination if their parents agreed.

There are two vaccines, Merck’s Gardasil and GlaxoSmithKline’s Cervarix, and clinical trial evidence for both is very encouraging. Over time, it is hoped that vaccination may be able to prevent up to 75 per cent of cases of cervical cancer. Side-effects are very few.

So far Gardasil is licensed for use in Europe and the US, with Cervarix not far behind. Some parents in Britain have arranged to have their daughters vaccinated privately, but wide-scale vaccination will not begin until the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation gives clearance and ministers have considered the cost implications.

GSK has launched a head-to-head comparison of the two vaccines, designed to compare their efficacy at producing an immume response.

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