HPV vaccine drives cervical cancer deaths to zero
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- Peter Sasieni and Milena Falcaro at Queen Mary University of London found no women in England aged 20-24 died of cervical cancer between 2020 and 2024, the first time zero deaths have been recorded in this age group, versus roughly 23 expected based on historical rates.
- The HPV vaccine is credited for the dramatic drop, with around 90% of women in that age group vaccinated at 12 or 13; the vaccine has been offered to girls in England since 2008 and to boys since 2019.
- Published in The Lancet, the study provides the first direct evidence that the HPV vaccine prevents cervical-cancer-related deaths—not just HPV infections and cancer incidence.
- Sasieni estimated roughly 200 lives have already been saved, with up to 18,000 future deaths potentially prevented, and noted the vaccine also protects against HPV-related cancers of the mouth, anus, throat, and penis, plus genital warts.
- NHS England vaccination director Caroline Temmink called the findings "incredibly exciting" and tied them to the NHS goal of eliminating cervical cancer by 2040.
- Sasieni warned that HPV vaccine uptake has "fallen quite dramatically since covid," and globally uptake remains low with cervical cancer rates still rising.
Why it matters: A generation of English women may be effectively freed from a once-common killer cancer, with researchers projecting up to 18,000 future deaths prevented—but Sasieni warned that post-COVID drops in vaccine uptake could reverse this trajectory, and worldwide vaccination rates remain too low to curb rising cervical cancer mortality.
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