Gardasil on immunisation program from next year

The federal government has announced it will fund the cervical cancer vaccine Gardasil for girls and women aged 12 to 26 from 2007.

Gardasil will be put on the National Immunisation Program for 12 to 13-year-old girls to be delivered through schools, health minister Tony Abbott said. The government will also fund a two-year catch-up program for 13 to 18-year-old girls in schools and 18 to 26-year-old women to be delivered through GPs.

The expected cost of the vaccine is $436 million between 2006-07 and 2009-10, Abbott said.

The initial submission from the vaccine's maker, CSL, in early November was rejected by the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee (PBAC) as too expensive.

Abbott said he asked the PBAC to consider a revised submission from CSL at an extraordinary meeting.

"I would like to thank the PBAC for agreeing to this unusual request," he said. "CSL agreed to reduce the price of Gardasil and provided the PBAC with additional information about its long-term effectiveness."

He also announced that CSL had agreed to make a contribution to any booster program if it became necessary in the next 20 years. It will also contribute to the cost of setting up a national register to link vaccination data to later cervical screening records.