Avi Blizovsky
The FDA, the Food and Drug Administration of the United States, announced last night the granting of fast approval for the marketing of a vaccine against cervical cancer. The vaccine is called Gardasil and is produced by Merck, which is represented in Israel by MSD.
The BBC reports that 290 women die every year worldwide as a result of cervical cancer. The new drug is planned to be given to girls and women between the ages of 9 and 26. The vaccine works by attacking the papilloma virus (HPV).
The vaccine is particularly advanced in its protection of women's health, said Andrew von Eschenbach, acting director of the FDA. "We can now include the worst types of HPV and most types of cervical cancer on the list of diseases that no one will have to suffer or die from anymore." Alex Azar, Deputy Minister of Public Health in the USA, said. Vaccine treatment for six months is expected to cost 360 dollars.
However, conservative sources in the US claim that giving the vaccine to little girls before they reach sexual maturity may encourage promiscuity.
The FDA approved the drug Gardasil after a clinical trial program that lasted about six months, and included 21 thousand women from all over the world. Gradasil was particularly effective against two strains of HPV, which cause about 70 percent of all cancer cases."
Nava Einbar, the spokeswoman for the Association for the War on Cancer, said in response: "Fortunately, research in the field of cancer is yielding impressive results that are encouraging news for all those fighting cancer and the FDA's move for rapid registration proves how important it is to quickly register the vaccine in Israel according to advanced standards and in the spirit of the times. Every year in Israel, about 180 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer, most of them as a result of the human papillomavirus that this vaccine is designed to eradicate. It is very important that all women in Israel, healthy and sick, be given the best treatment that science has proven to be effective for treatment or prevention."
Cancer research expert
For news at the BBC
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