Adolescents in 5th grade, girls and boys, will once again be invited to be vaccinated against HPV (papillomavirus) at the start of the 2024 school year. Because France is still lagging behind in Europe in vaccination coverage to prevent the development of cancer of the cervix. Some countries such as Portugal, Belgium and Iceland have vaccination coverage rates equal to or greater than 90%. France had a target of 60% in 2023. We are not there yet.
But the vaccination campaign launched for the first time in middle schools at the start of the 2023 school year made it possible to go from 38% of 12-year-old girls having received a dose of vaccine on September 1 to 55% by December 31. Among boys of the same age, we went from 26% to 41% in three months, according to figures from Public Health France.
“The figures are not optimal, but very encouraging. This clearly demonstrates the effectiveness of vaccination in college. Moreover, all countries which display a vaccination coverage rate greater than 80% have implemented vaccination in middle schools,” insists Professor Geoffroy Canlorbe, secretary of the SFPCV (French Society of Colposcopy and Cervico-Vaginal Pathology) . In France, the Ministry of Health hopes to reach this rate of 80% vaccination coverage against HPV in 2030.
“Making cervical cancer a disease of the past”
If the SFPCV places so much emphasis on this age group, it is because the earlier young people are vaccinated, the more effective the vaccine is. “In Great Britain, where the vaccination coverage rate is 80%, the reduction in precancerous lesions is 97% if young girls are vaccinated at 12 or 13 years old. It drops to 75% if they are vaccinated between 14 and 16 years old and to 39% if they are vaccinated between 16 and 18 years old,” explains Doctor Jean-Luc Mergui.
The latter also emphasizes the importance of vaccination to reduce inequalities in terms of prevention, because “young women from a disadvantaged socio-economic background consult gynecologists less and are less screened. » “By combining good vaccination coverage and screening in adulthood, we could make cervical cancer a disease of the past,” concludes Professor Xavier Carcopino, president of the SFPCV.
