Doorstop interview: Gardasil

TERRI BUTLER, SHADOW ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR EQUALITY: Well we've had confirmation today that Gardasil 9 vaccine will be made available and administered to school students from the 2018 School year and that's excellent news. 

 

This is a really important vaccine; of course it builds on the previous Gardasil vaccine, invented by professor Ian Fraser and others. And it is a vaccine that protects against HPV. This new version of Gardasil, Gardasil 9 will prevent several other forms of cancers - so it will actual move to preventing about 90 per cent of genital cancers in young people. 

 

And we are very pleased about it, particularly because Labor wrote to the Coalition Government last month asking for this vaccine to be made available urgently. We are very pleased that the Government has listened to our request. 

 

This is something that is really important because HPV, the virus HPV affects up to 4 in 5 sexually active people in Australia. This is a really important opportunity to increase the prevention and the protection for our young people. 

 

I am very pleased that the announcement has been made that Gardasil 9 will be starting to be administered in the 2018 school year. The announcement, the confirmation that Gardasil 9 will be administered from the 2018 school year is excellent news and as I say, we are very pleased because we in Labor wrote to the Government last month asking for this to be made available urgently. So we are pleased that they have listened.

 

JOURNALIST: So, will this be on top of the original Gardasil or it replaces it all together?

 

BUTLER: It will replace it because it is actually a broader spectrum of protection. So additional strains of the HPV virus are covered by this vaccine. It is very, very good to know that there will be additional protect and coverage for young people once this vaccine starts being administered.

 

JOURNALIST: So, if you had the original one, you can still go to see your doctor if you're not a student anymore and you want to get the - 

 

BUTLER: You should definitely talk to your doctor about that. I am certainly not going to give people medical advice. But people should talk to their doctor if they've had the original vaccine.

 

Thanks very much.