{"id":12377,"date":"2025-03-20T15:41:25","date_gmt":"2025-03-20T15:41:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/?p=12377"},"modified":"2025-03-24T09:18:24","modified_gmt":"2025-03-24T09:18:24","slug":"understanding-hpv-essential-knowledge-for-cancer-prevention","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/healthcare-innovations\/understanding-hpv-essential-knowledge-for-cancer-prevention\/","title":{"rendered":"Understanding HPV: essential knowledge for cancer prevention"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div style=\"background-color:#f2f2f2;color:#32373c\" class=\"wp-block-atomic-blocks-ab-profile-box round ab-has-avatar ab-font-size-14 ab-block-profile ab-profile-columns\"><div class=\"ab-profile-column ab-profile-avatar-wrap\"><div class=\"ab-profile-image-wrap\"><figure class=\"ab-profile-image-square\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"400\" height=\"400\" class=\"ab-profile-avatar wp-image-12378\" src=\"https:\/\/s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com\/cdn-site.mediaplanet.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/94\/2025\/03\/20152804\/vicky-1742484483-Sinead-Tuite.jpg\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com\/cdn-site.mediaplanet.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/94\/2025\/03\/20152804\/vicky-1742484483-Sinead-Tuite.jpg 400w, https:\/\/s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com\/cdn-site.mediaplanet.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/94\/2025\/03\/20152804\/vicky-1742484483-Sinead-Tuite-125x125.jpg 125w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/figure><\/div><\/div><div class=\"ab-profile-column ab-profile-content-wrap\"><h2 class=\"ab-profile-name\" style=\"color:#32373c\">Sinead Tuite<\/h2><p class=\"ab-profile-title\" style=\"color:#32373c\">Vaccines Business Lead, MSD Ireland<\/p><div class=\"ab-profile-text\"><\/div><ul class=\"ab-social-links\"><\/ul><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Raising awareness about human papillomavirus (HPV) is essential to reduce the prevalence and harm of HPV-related cancers and diseases, ensuring a healthier future for everyone.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p>In Ireland, over 190 people lose their lives annually because of HPV-related cancers.<sup>1<\/sup> Despite its prevalence, awareness about HPV and its potential to cause various cancers remains low. Research by Ipsos MRBI for MSD Ireland in 2023 showed that a third of Irish people have &#8216;no awareness&#8217; that vaccines may prevent certain cancers, and three-quarters of people (76%) think it is &#8216;unlikely&#8217; that they have ever had HPV, despite its commonality.<sup>3<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-prevalence-of-hpv-related-cancers-and-diseases\"><a><\/a><strong>Prevalence of HPV-related cancers and diseases<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a common virus primarily transmitted through intimate skin-to-skin contact, including vaginal, anal or oral sex.<sup>4<\/sup> While most HPV infections resolve on their own within two years, some can persist and lead to serious health issues, including cancers of the cervix, vulva, vagina, anus and penis.<sup>4<\/sup> In Ireland, HPV-associated cancers account for nearly 3% of all invasive cancers, excluding non-melanoma skin cancer.<sup>1<\/sup> This figure rises to 7% among young adults aged 20\u2013 49 years.<sup>1<\/sup> Anogenital warts, caused by HPV types 6 and 11, are another significant concern, with approximately 1,000 cases reported annually in Ireland.<sup>2<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>The impact of HPV on cervical cancer <br>is particularly significant, with 99% <br>of cervical cancer cases attributed to HPV.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-cervical-cancer-elimination\"><a><\/a><strong>Cervical cancer elimination<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The impact of HPV on cervical cancer is particularly significant, with 99% of cervical cancer cases attributed to HPV.<sup>5<\/sup> In Ireland alone, there are an estimated 250 new cases of cervical cancer diagnosed each year, resulting in around 80 deaths.<sup>1<\/sup> The World Health Organization (WHO) launched a global initiative in 2020 to eliminate cervical cancer by focusing on prevention through HPV vaccination, screening and treatment of pre-cancerous lesions.<sup>6<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ireland has aligned with this global strategy by launching its Cervical Cancer Elimination Action Plan,<sup>7<\/sup> setting a target to eliminate cervical cancer by 2040 by aiming to vaccinate 90% of girls by age 15, screen 80% of eligible individuals with an HPV test every five years and treat 97% of women with cervical disease within one year.<sup>7<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-need-to-address-remaining-challenges\"><a><\/a><strong>Need to address remaining challenges<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>This ambitious plan represents a significant milestone, but challenges remain. Even though Ireland&#8217;s vaccination rate is relatively high compared to some other countries, 78.4% for the 2022\/2023 academic year,<sup>8<\/sup> the vaccination rate has been declining for the past three years<sup>8<\/sup> and is still far from the 90% target outlined in the plan.<sup>7<\/sup> It is crucial to expand HPV education and awareness, particularly among marginalised or harder-to-reach groups. By focusing on these communities, we can reduce the burden and harm of all HPV-related cancers and pave the way for a healthier future for Ireland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-right has-small-font-size\"><strong>[1] <\/strong>NCRI. 2024. <em>HPV \u2013 Associated Cancers. Cancer Trends Report, Key findings.<\/em><br><strong>[2]<\/strong> Ano-genital warts in Ireland 2018 (includes latest trends).pdf (hpsc.ie)<br><strong>[3] <\/strong>MSD, MSD Data on File 2023. <em>The research was commissioned by MSD Ireland and carried out by Ipsos B&amp;A on a sample population of 1,400 adults in Ireland. 2023<\/em>.<br><strong>[4] <\/strong>CDC. 2024. <em>About HPV<\/em>. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/hpv\/about\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/hpv\/about\/index.html<\/a> (Accessed March 2025)<br><strong>[5] <\/strong>WHO. 2025. <em>Cervical Cancer. <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.who.int\/health-topics\/cervical-cancer#tab%3Dtab_1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">https:\/\/www.who.int\/health-topics\/cervical-cancer#tab=tab_1<\/a> (Accessed March 2025)<br><strong>[6] <\/strong>WHO. 2020. <em>Global strategy to accelerate the elimination of cervical cancer as a public health problem.<\/em><br><strong>[7] <\/strong>HSE. <em>Ireland\u2019s Cervical Cancer Elimination Plan \u2013 Strategic Vision 2025 \u2013 2040, Action Plan 2025-2030.<\/em><br><strong>[8]<\/strong> HSE. 2024. <em>HSE School Vaccination Programme HPV, Tdap, MenC\/MenACWY Uptake Data up to 2022\/2023.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Raising awareness about human papillomavirus (HPV) is essential to reduce the prevalence and harm of HPV-related cancers and diseases, ensuring a healthier future for everyone. In Ireland, over 190 people lose their lives annually because of HPV-related cancers.1 Despite its prevalence, awareness about HPV and its potential to cause various cancers remains low. Research by &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/healthcare-innovations\/understanding-hpv-essential-knowledge-for-cancer-prevention\/\">Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":91,"featured_media":12380,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5973],"tags":[5972],"class_list":["post-12377","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-healthcare-innovations","tag-healthcare-innovations-2025"],"acf":[],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com\/cdn-site.mediaplanet.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/94\/2025\/03\/20153923\/vicky-1742485161-AdobeStock_1206855693-600x400.jpg","featured_image_src_square":"https:\/\/s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com\/cdn-site.mediaplanet.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/94\/2025\/03\/20153923\/vicky-1742485161-AdobeStock_1206855693-600x600.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"henryphillips","author_link":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/author\/henryphillips\/"},"vicky_index_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12377","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/91"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12377"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12377\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12389,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12377\/revisions\/12389"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12380"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12377"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12377"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12377"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}