February 28, 2023
The President of the Republic announced this Tuesday, during a trip to a Charente college: from next September, 5th graders will be invited to be vaccinated against the papillomavirus free of charge, within their establishments.
“Eradicate the papillomavirus”. This is the objective displayed by the Élysée, in a country which is a bad student in this area. In France, HPV vaccination has been recommended for girls aged 11 to 14 since 2007, and since 2021 for boys of the same age. Either before their entry into sexual life, for optimal efficiency.
Indeed, if papillomavirus infections are very common sexually transmitted infections (80% of the population is or will be exposed to them), it is impossible to predict whether the body will manage to eliminate them naturally or whether lesions will persist. Gold, “In France, these viruses are responsible, each year, for more than 100,000 benign genital warts, more than 30,000 pre-cancerous lesions and more than 8,000 cancers of the genital, anal and oropharyngeal regions”recalls the National Academy of Medicine, which pleaded last June for “make the vaccination offer systematic for children aged 11 to 14”.
Vaccine efficacy
And for good reason: the protection induced by vaccination works. Against cancer of the cervix (2,900 cases each year in France, according to the National Cancer Institute), its effectiveness is even spectacular: the WHO estimates that with adequate vaccination coverage, the disease, caused by an HPV virus in more than 9 out of 10 cases, could be totally eradicated in Europe in the years to come.
“Recent studies from the UK, one of the first countries to introduce HPV vaccination, show that it has reduced pre-cancerous lesions and cervical cancer by nearly 90% among first cohorts to have received the vaccine”. Sweden expects “cervical cancer could be eliminated (…) within 5 years, which means that there would be less than 4 new cases per 100,000 women per year”.
80% vaccination coverage
And in France ? An experiment conducted for two years in the Grand-Est region shows that the vaccination coverage of young people increased from 9% to 27% the first year and from 14% to 31% the second. How ? Thanks to the vaccination campaign coordinated by the ARS, aimed at volunteer students in 5th grade, within their establishments.
It is therefore this type of device that will be generalized to all colleges in France, for 5th graders, from next September, the President of the Republic announced on Tuesday. Remember that the ten-year cancer control strategy 2021-2030 aims for 80% HPV vaccination coverage within seven years.
To note : School vaccination is not new. This is also the strategy that was adopted to extend vaccination coverage against another STI, hepatitis B, in the 1990s. Several hundred thousand 6th graders then received the three doses of vaccine, administered by school doctors and nurses. The vaccine is now mandatory for children born after January 1, 2018.