The Director of Immunisation has issued a communication informing of a change in the choice of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine for the national HPV immunisation programme for girls in school year 8 (aged 12 to 13 years). Following a competitive tendering exercise, the Department of Health (DH) will be providing Gardasil® from September 2012.

Unlike the current vaccine in use (Cervarix), Gardasil also protects against HPV types 6 and 11, which cause nearly all genital warts. Figures from the Health Protection Agency show that 75,000 people were diagnosed with genital warts in 2010. According to a BBC report, some sexual health experts had criticised the DH decision in 2008 to opt for Cervarix, the cheaper of the two vaccines. A consultant in sexual health medicine at Birmingham Heartlands hospital said "we felt last time round the decision was based on the vaccine cost, and yet the reduction in the burden on sexual health clinics was not taken into account.” He added “in Australia, the burden of genital warts has fallen dramatically since the introduction of the quadrivalent vaccine (Gardasil).” The Director of Immunisation, said: "It's not unusual for the NHS to change vaccines or other medicines - it can happen following competitive tendering exercises or when new research findings come to light."

Gardasil is the most widely used of the two vaccines, with 80 million doses distributed worldwide compared to 25 million of Cervarix.

Full details of the changeover and Questions and answers can be found in the letter from the Director of Immunisation at the link below.