By AFPMore by this Author"Unfounded rumours" causing people to spurn the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine was preventing the elimination of cervical cancer, which kills more than 300,000 women every year, health authorities said Monday. To mark World Cancer Day 2019, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) issued a statement in which it "unequivocally confirms the efficacy and safety of HPV vaccination". "Unfounded rumours about HPV vaccines continue to unnecessarily delay or impede the scaling up of the vaccination, which is so urgently needed to prevent cervical cancer," said IARC director Elisabete Weiderpass. Spread mainly through sex, the human papillomavirus causes most cases of cervical cancer, which claims the life of a woman somewhere in the world every two minutes. The UN's World Health Organization recommends vaccination of all girls, and screening and treatment for older women to reduce cancer risk.

Source: Daily Nation February 04, 2019 09:22 UTC