WOMEN who want to protect themselves against cervical cancer can now look forward to cheaper vaccines as pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline has dropped the price of its vaccine, Cervarix, by 30 per cent.
Clinics here are likely to pass on the savings to their patients.
A three-jab regime, which used to cost about $600, now costs around $450, depending on which clinics the women use.
And, on April 4, they can get their shots - at a discounted price of $99 per jab - at an event organised by The Cancer Centre at One Marina Boulevard.
A survey done last December and this January by the Obstetrical and Gynaecological Society of Singapore (OGSS) showed that women here were not getting vaccinated because of the high cost of the vaccines and their ignorance about the disease.
According to the Health Promotion Board, a woman is diagnosed with cervical cancer every two days. Worldwide, over 280,000 women die from the disease every year.
Although cervical-cancer vaccines have been available here for several years, less than 1 per cent of women aged 10 to 25 - the recommended age for vaccination - get the necessary jabs, said OGSS president Beh Suan Tiong.
"The tragic thing about this cancer is that, unlike other cancers, it can be easily prevented through vaccination and papsmear screening," he said.
The vaccination works against the human papillomavirus (HPV), which can potentially cause cervical cancer, though a "very small proportion" of HPV-infected women get cervical cancer, said Dr Tay Eng Hseon, medical director of Thomson Women's Cancer Centre and senior consultant gynaecologist at Thomson Medical Centre.
However, it is still significant as HPV infects up to four in five women.
While doctors here say the side effects of the jabs are minimal, British newspaper The Telegraph reported on Tuesday that around 1,500 women in Britain who have taken Cervarix jabs experienced adverse reactions such as paralysis, convulsions and sight problems.
Dr Beh said: "There is no proven correlation between the vaccines and these nervous disorders, which can happen naturally in the population."
Dr Wong Seng Weng, medical oncologist at The Cancer Centre, said: "Some of the more serious side effects may not even be directly linked to the vaccines. Overall, the vaccines appear fairly safe."
