SOGC position statements
The Society of Canadian Colposcopists strongly endorses the NACI Statement on HPV Vaccination
March 22 , 2007
KINGSTON, Ontario - The Society of Canadian Colposcopists applauds the Conservative Government for allocating $300 million in the recent federal budget to enable provinces and territories to provide the HPV vaccination to Canadian women and girls.
Studies have shown that this vaccine is 100 per cent effective in preventing disease from the HPV types that cause 70 per cent of all cervical cancers and 90 per cent of genital warts.1
The Society of Canadian Colposcopists is an independent nonprofit organization representing physicians who do Colposcopy and allied health professionals across Canada. The practice of Colposcopy is integral to the screening and prevention of cervical cancer.
“With this funding, along with the recent NACI recommendations[2] , we can conclude that HPV vaccination is now the standard of care,” states Dr. Peter Bryson, President of the Society of Canadian Colposcopists and Head of the Division of Gynecologic Oncology at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario. “The $300 million over the next three years will help to support the launch of a national program for HPV vaccination.” He emphasizes that “provincial governments can now take quick action to move towards publicly funding a HPV Vaccination program, starting with 9 to 13 year old girls in a school based program.”
SCC also supports the recommendations of the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) for the use of HPV Vaccination published in their report of February 15 2007.2 Health Canada, in July 2006, approved GARDASIL™ (Merck Frosst), a quadrivalent human Papillomavirus recombinant vaccine, for the prevention of HPV related diseases caused by types 6, 11, 16, 18.
NACI recommendations state that all Canadian girls and women aged 9 to 26 should be routinely vaccinated with GARDASIL™ to protect them against the Human Papillomavirus (HPV), the primary cause of genital warts and cervical cancer.
The report advocates vaccination of females between 9 and 13, ideally before the onset of sexual intercourse. This would be the most efficacious approach. Females from ages 14 to 26, even if they have had previous Pap abnormalities, genital warts or an HPV infection could also be vaccinated.
The NACI document also allows vaccination of women over 26 years of age in individual circumstances, despite the current lack of data. Studies are presently evaluating the role of HPV vaccination in this age group.
Dr. Jim Bentley, President Elect of the SCC and Director of Colposcopy, Division of Gynecologic Oncology, QEII Health Sciences Centre in Halifax explains that “SCC hopes provincial governments across Canada will adopt this vaccination strategy and set up registries to keep track of those vaccinated, while continuing to support organized screening programs.” He goes on to point out that “this is a huge step towards the eventual reduction of HPV related diseases, especially cervical cancer.”
Dr. Monique Bertrand, Colposcopist, Head of the Division of Gynecologic Oncology in London, Ontario and Past President of SCC agreed with these comments and added: “Any benefit from immunization will show itself first in the colposcopy clinic. This will take several years to be realized. Hopefully provincial governments will consider funding vaccination for the entire recommended age group.
Dr. Fernando Guijon, Colposcopist and Gynecologist at the Health Sciences Center in Winnipeg cautions that “we also must stress to women that they will need continued routine Pap smear screening as the vaccine does not protect against all HPV types responsible for cervical cancer."
About SOGC
The mission of the Society of Canadian Colposcopists (SCC) is to strive for the provision of the highest quality of care in the detection and treatment of diseases and pre-invasive lesions of the lower genital tract; to recommend and strengthen the basic standards in the training program in colposcopy and associated treatment modalities; to encourage basic, clinical and epidemiologic research in colposcopy and lower genital tract disease; to develop and recommend clinical practice guidelines for colposcopy; to provide an educational forum for interdisciplinary presentation, discussion, and publication of scientific inquiry into colposcopy and pre-invasive cervical disease other benign lesions of the lower genital tract
References:
1. Efficacy of a Prophylactic Quadrivalent Human Papillomavirus (HPV) (Types 6, 11, 16, 18) L1 Virus-Like Particle (VLP) Vaccine for Prevention of Cervical Dysplasia and External Genital Lesions (EGL). Presented by C. Sattler at the 45th Annual Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC) in Washington, DC.
2. Statement on Human Papilloma Vaccine National Committee on Immunization. Canadian Communicable Disease Report Volume 33, ACS 2, 15 Feb 2007. http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/publicat/ccdr-rmtc/07pdf/acs33-02.pdf. Accessed 27 Feb 2007.
