The Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccination programme is designed to reduce the risk of cervical cancer in women. There are two licensed HPV vaccines, Gardasil® and Cervarix®, available to protect against the types of HPV infection that cause most cervical cancers. Cervarix® was approved in September 2007 in the European Union. In the UK it is included in the national vaccination programme for teenage and pre-teenage girls aged 12–13 and 17–18.The safety of HPV vaccines was studied in clinical trials worldwide before the licence was granted.
