Morning:
20°c
Johnny Depp has become, in his young middle age, like a star of the movies’ golden period
Secret deal hatched by News of the World to hush up details of phone-tapping was sealed in a tiny room at the Royal Courts of Justice
More...
'One in 10 girls has STD linked to cancer by 16'
Last updated at 23:52pm on 19.09.07
The Government plans to offer vaccinations to girls as young as 12
At least one in 10 teenage girls is carrying a sexually-transmitted disease which could give them cancer, shocking figures revealed last night.
More and more girls aged under 16 are infected with the human papilloma virus - putting them at risk of developing cervical cancer later in life.
Last night the Health Protection Agency warned that the risk a girl is carrying the HPV virus rises 'substantially' after the age of 14 - two years before they can legally have sex.
By the age of 18, around 20 per cent of girls will have contracted the virus, while by the age of 24, 40 per cent will have done so.
HPV is linked to most cases of cervical cancer, which kills more than 1,000 middle-aged women in Britain every year.
A vaccine against the sexually-transmitted disease is available but must be given before puberty to be effective.
In June the Government said it would start vaccinating girls as young as 12 against HPV - saying it would save at least 700 lives a year.
The decision caused controversy, with some claiming the jab would promote promiscuity among young girls.
Pregnancies among under-18s rose in 2005 to 39,683 - up from 39,593 in 2004 and much higher than the 35,400 recorded a decade earlier in 1995.
And rates of chlamydia and genital herpes are also climbing, despite Government attempts to reduce the number of teenagers with sexual infections.
The latest figures, published in the British Journal of Cancer, reveal for the first time just how many young women are catching HPV.
Scientists tested blood samples from 1,483 girls and women between the ages of 10 and 29.
They found that 21 per cent had the virus and that the risk of infection increased sharply at the age of 14.
Most HPV infections show no symptoms and clear on their own. But they can cause genital warts in men and women, and cervical cancer in women.
Professor Pat Troop, chief executive of the Health Protection Agency, said: "This study is a valuable addition to our understanding of HPV infection in women in England and should contribute to effective policies to prevent genital warts and cervical cancer.
"With the Government's recent announcement of the possible introduction of HPV vaccination, such research will help us and other public health experts to determine the impact of HPV vaccination."
Juliet Hillier, of the sexual health charity Brook, said: "Statistics like this demonstrate a real need to improve education and prevention programmes which target young people.
"The Government must urgently implement a vaccination programme for girls and boys before they become sexually active and ensure resource is available to do so.
"Sex and relationships education must be made a statutory part of the national curriculum. Young people must also have access to information and advice before they become sexually active.'
Norman Wells of Family and Youth Concern said: "These disturbing figures highlight the failure of sex education programmes which tell children that there is nothing wrong with sex at any age so long as they use a condom. "So long as the government continues to encourage teenage sexual activity by making contraception freely and confidentially available in school clinics and other settings, sexually transmitted infection rates will continue to rise. "The real need is not to normalise condom use, but to normalise saving sex for marriage and then remaining faithful to your husband or wife for life."
Official figures show that sexually-transmitted diseases among the young are continuing to rise - up 2 per cent in 2006.
Experts have expressed particular concern over a 16 per cent rise in the number of girls with the incurable and unpleasant condition of genital herpes.
Chlamydia rates increased by 4 per cent and genital warts by 3 per cent.
Concerns over HPV led the Joint Committee for Vaccination and Immunisation to recommend that girls aged 12 and 13 should be offered injections of the vaccine Gardasil from autumn 2008.
Ministers accepted the advice in principle, subject to an independent analysis of the benefits compared to the costs. The final verdict is due next month.
The vaccine, which is given in three injections over six months, must be given before puberty to be most effective.
Like all vaccination programmes, the scheme will be voluntary and parents will be able to refuse permission for their daughter to have the jab.
Experts say it could be 20 years before the first health benefits are seen - but they insist it will save thousands of lives.
Each jab costs £300 and if every first-year secondary school child receives it, it will cost £100 million.
But the anti-vaccination pressure group Jabs says the injection has not been tested enough on young girls, meaning possible side effects such as birth defects and juvenile arthritis have not been properly assessed.
