University of Queensland Vice-Chancellor, Professor John Hay, AC, has welcomed the Australian Government’s decision to fund the delivery of a UQ-invented cancer vaccine to Australian school girls.
Professor Hay congratulated the Prime Minister, John Howard, and the Health Minister, Tony Abbott, for committing $436 million to begin funding the vaccine’s distribution next year.
“This is an invaluable investment by the government in the health of Australian women,” Professor Hay said.
“The vaccine is proven to prevent cervical cancer, so it will deliver enormous benefits in terms of the health and welfare of Australian women and families, as well as savings to the economy.”
Professor Ian Frazer, the Director of UQ’s Centre for Immunology and Cancer Research, and his late colleague Dr Jian Zhou, invented the vaccine, Gardasil®, in a UQ laboratory more than 15 years ago. Professor Frazer’s role in the vaccine’s development earned him the title of 2006 Australian of the Year.
The government announced today that Gardasil® will be delivered to school girls aged 12 and 13 as part of the National Immunisation Programme from 2007. The spending of $436 million over three years will also fund a two-year school-based catch-up programme for girls and young women aged between 13 and 18 years. The vaccine will be available through GPs to women aged 18 to 26.
Phase III clinical trials involving more than 25,000 women in 33 countries proved the vaccine’s efficacy, and it has been approved in the United States.
Media contact: Fiona Kennedy (07) 3365 1088/0413 380 012
