The cervical cancer vaccine can significantly decrease your daughter's chances of developing cervical cancer, genital warts and other HPV-related illnesses.
Over 65 million doses of the vaccine have been safely given, in over 100 countries.
Cancer Council and the World Health Organization endorse HPV vaccination programs as part of a cervical cancer prevention strategy that includes regular cervical cancer screening (Pap tests) and sexual health education.
The National Immunisation Program recommends that girls have the vaccine aged 12-13. You may have chosen to have your daughter vaccinated against polio, hepatitis B, diphtheria and whooping cough and other vaccine-preventable diseases as part of the same program when she was younger.
You and your daughter should choose whether she has the vaccine together. We recommend you take the following steps:
- Explore the menus on the left to learn more about HPV and the vaccine
- Ask your daughter to read the Girls section of the website
- Talk to your doctor if you need more information or see the More information page
- Talk to your daughter about having the vaccine
- Decide together whether she should have the vaccine
- Return the consent form to school, indicating your decision
Although you must sign the consent form for your daughter to have the vaccine in school, it is very important that your daughter understands what the vaccine is, and that you come to a decision about whether she has the vaccine together.