The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 277 No 7423 p468
21 October 2006

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A new public health measure more
… and a new public protection measure more

A new public health measure

New drugs and treatments that may have a significant impact on the health of the population are always to be welcomed — even more so if the intervention is for preventive purposes. The vaccine against four types of the human papilloma virus largely responsible for the development of cervical cancer and genital warts, launched this week by Sanofi Pasteur MSD, is just such an example. And it is particularly welcome as a public health initiative, since such initiatives often seem a little wishy-washy and depend on people changing their behaviours. That, as we all know, is notoriously difficult.

The new vaccine (p469) is licensed for immunisation of girls and boys between the ages of nine and 15 years, and women between the ages of 16 and 26.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation is currently deciding whether the vaccine should be available throughout the NHS. If, as has been suggested, it were to be offered to all girls at the age of 12 years it would cost up to £90m a year.

Screening for cervical cancer has been a national priority for over 25 years and has done much to reduce the burden of the disease, although about 1,000 women still die as a result of it in the UK every year. If a vaccination programme were adopted, as more women became vaccinated, the costs of the national screening programme would drop.

There will be some who will try to argue against such a vaccination programme on the grounds that it will encourage greater promiscuity and permissiveness among young people. There is little to stop teenagers determined to have sexual relations now, except for common sense. We suspect that the introduction of such a vaccine would not make much difference.

Let us hope that — despite the cost, which might fall once GlaxoSmithKline launches its own HPV vaccine during 2007 — this is a public health measure that is adopted quickly.

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… and a new public protection measure

Car and household insurance policies are not valid until the premium is paid and forms are completed giving an accurate claims history. This seems a reasonable request and something one might only be reluctant to fulfil if one thought it might have an impact on a no-claims bonus or the size of the premium. So it should not come as much of a surprise to practising pharmacists and pharmacy technicians that, unless they pay their retention fees and fill in their fitness-to-practise declarations, their names will be removed from their respective registers. This decision to make it obligatory to complete a fitness-to-practise declaration was made by the Council of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society last week and will be enforced in January 2007. This year just over 300 pharmacists failed to comply with the request to return a completed declaration.

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