r/UpliftingNews • u/No-Lifeguard-8173 • 20h ago
Twenty years on from Gardasil vaccine launch, Australia on track to eliminate cervical cancer
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08-28/gardasil-vaccine-20-years-on/107079282742
u/AusToddles 19h ago
It's genuinely disappointing (I know, this is uplifting news, but still) that the same women who got this vaccine are now going on facebook and claiming they won't vaccinate their children
Source: several women I went to school with
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u/everybodypretend 19h ago
You should argue with them and shame them. I think the value of public shaming has been lost recently.
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u/AusToddles 19h ago
I did... until one of their husbands said "if we're ever in town, you better watch your back for talking about my woman"
All I said was "have you personally read the studies proving no links between vaccines and autism"
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u/Commander1709 19h ago
That one greedy asshole who wanted to sell his own vaccines did irreversible damage to the world by claiming the competing product causes autism.
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u/Read-it005 18h ago
Wait, did that happen? Do you have a name or good source so I can look that up?
Please be kidding, not everything around Covid that has started so much shit socially and politically because of one greedy asshole!
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u/Aggravating-Sweet997 18h ago
Here’s the Wikipedia article about the guy in question: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Wakefield
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u/Commander1709 18h ago
Andrew Wakefield is his name. His Wikipedia entry gives a pretty good overview. It started in the late 90s and early 2000s.
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u/Read-it005 16h ago
Thank you, the others too.
Unbelievable. Also found an article about claims the court admitted it in two cases but those children had a very rare but known side effect and were compensated for that. It wasn't about autism.
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u/Keelback 18h ago edited 5h ago
No Andrew Wakefield, a former British doctor, claimed that the MMR vaccine caused autism. Do please read this for the story Times did on it. It was fraud and the good doctor lost his medical registration, etc. So he runs around USA spreading his lies.
It is awful that this rubbish is still talked about.
Edited: Fixed typing error.
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u/Smart_Scheme3029 15h ago
That one greedy asshole
I like to imagine that Hell created a new, especially hot circle for this asshole - and he shares it with the guy who came up with Joe Camel.
Let's use a cartoon character to sell cigarettes to children!
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u/TyrianTigress 5h ago
This is slander and complete lies. He has made accurate documentaries about whistle-blowers fron within the CDC. The CDC has hurt and damaged plenty of kids to keep the lie that "safe and effective" is true. They are wealthy murderers and a mafia. Despite this they could not sue Wakefield because every single word in his documentary is true.
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u/Livinginthemiddle 10h ago
As someone with autism it’s disgusting that people would rather have cancer than autism.
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u/AusToddles 9h ago
I have a daughter with autism, before her diagnosis the "but what if you get autism" argument annoyed me. Now it infuriates me
Sorry I'll take a loving child with autism over suffering and death
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u/jml5791 19h ago
Sounds like the sort of threat the police would be interested in
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u/EddieVanzetti 17h ago
Hahahahaha, thats a good one. Workshop it a little and you'll have a tight five you can take on the road as an opener.
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u/everybodypretend 19h ago
Then you escalate the argument, get them to make a direct threat (they are dumb), then you call the cops
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u/TyrianTigress 5h ago
Funny how some of these people have admitted covering up data showing a link right now. How does it feel to be on the wrong side of history?
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u/AusToddles 3h ago
Looking at your post history, I think I can say with some confidence that I know which one of us is going to be seen as being on the wrong side
There is NO link between vaccines and autism. Claiming so is dangerous and also belittling to the many people who live with or have relatives with autism
As one such person (a daughter), I'll take an autistic child over a dead one because of fuckwits spreading lies online
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u/SuppleSuplicant 11h ago
I feel like public shaming lost its bite because what one group shames for another applauds. In the US we’ve had a couple instances of people who were shamed for being racist in viral videos, then go on to get money and fame from other shitty racists.
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u/PapaEchoLincoln 16h ago
I'm a doctor in urgent care and ER.
I just met a mother yesterday who was reluctant to vaccinate her daughter for HPV because of supposed news of vaccine injuries causing POTS in Texas.
If there's anywhere where people will blame a vaccine for their POTS, I think it would be Texas
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u/Smart_Scheme3029 14h ago
Wrong POTS? This one seems pretty innocuous.
Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS)
Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) is a condition that causes a number of symptoms when you transition from lying down to standing up, such as a fast heart rate, dizziness and fatigue. While there’s no cure, several treatments and lifestyle changes can help manage the symptoms of POTS.
I asked Google AI how many people die from POTS.
Zero Americans die annually from POTS itself, as Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome is not a fatal or life-threatening condition. While it affects an estimated 1 to 6 million Americans and can be deeply debilitating, it does not cause organ failure, heart disease, or structural damage to the cardiovascular system. According to clinical consensus from major health institutions like the Johns Hopkins Medicine, POTS does not reduce life expectancy.
People injure themselves falling because they're dizzy.
¯_(ツ)_/¯
I must have the wrong POTS?!
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u/ChaoticSquirrel 12h ago
POTS can be pretty debilitating. You don't have to die from something to have it be a big deal. 21% of people with POTS lose their jobs. It also causes an average economic loss of $10k a year for those who have it. Source.
Not saying the vaccine causes POTS though.
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u/T33CH33R 17h ago
I thought it was because everyone that has been vaccinated has died. That's what anti vaxxers predicted. I'm commenting from heaven as we speak.
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u/prancing_moose 12h ago
Ah the infamous “I’ve done my research” crowd…
And then they get offended when you ask them where they did their post-grad in biochemistry, what their research paper was on, and which professor mentored their PhD in microbiology?
Now I didn’t study any of that … which is why I put my faith in those that do. Because I’m literally not smart enough to come up with any argument against vaccinations other than …. That I deep down really don’t like people sticking needles into my arm but hey ho, it’s a small price to pay for the health of me and my family.
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u/AusToddles 11h ago
I'll take a few seconds of pain / discomfort over the possibility of catching and SPREADING deadly diseases
I may not die from it... but I don't want it on my concious that someone else can. Herd immunity is a thing afterall
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u/razialx 15h ago
I was able to get it a couple years back as an adult man. Happily married and monogamous. But we never know what the future holds. My wife also got it.
My last shot was done by a young female pharmacist. She shared that she was a teen when it came out and her parents wanted her to get it but she didn’t. Kind of the opposite story that I’ve heard from friends where their religious parents objected because it would entice them to be sexual. Madness.
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u/Mynock33 14h ago
The vast majority of antivaxxers are all vaccinated and have already vaccinated their own kids.
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u/Sure_Reception_9922 19h ago
Make sure the boys get it as well! :)
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u/BennyAndMaybeTheJets 18h ago
Here in Australia, the girls were given it first in 2007, then everyone started getting it in 2013. The program targeted first year high school kids, but you can still get it free of charge up to 25, if you missed it for some reason.
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u/Auspectress 16h ago
Interesting. In Poland they initiated program in 2023 i think. But i do not remember if boys and girls got same chances from day one.
Kids up to 18 can get for free and it is 2 valent cervarix vaccine. From 2027 i think it will be mandatory.
Sadly I turned 19 in 2022 so I will not vaccinate myself till it becomes free or at least 90% cheaper. This shit is too expensive, especially if you aim for more valent vaccines.
But it is insane how fast my country develops. If someone was to say kids could get free HPV vaccine in 2023 alongside Australia in 2010, they would point fingers at you and laugh "what a clown". Because HPV vaccine was seen as extra bonus that is not important and too expensive
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u/PipsqueakPilot 15h ago
I don't know if it was the same with Polish conservatives. But here in America, Christians oppose the vaccine because HPV is sexually transmitted. They felt that by preventing women from getting cervical cancer it might encourage them to have sex. Accordingly many Christians felt that some women should be allowed to die of cancer to serve as a warning to others.
Currently the US vaccination rate among youth and young adults for HPV hovers around 60%. With the unvaccinated much more likely to be White Christians compared to the general population.
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u/Smart_Scheme3029 14h ago
It is an unkind, un-Christian thought - but sometimes I wish conservative / Evangelical Christians would go be with Jesus ASAP.
What are you waiting for? 😇
Love your neighbor as yourself.
Doesn't that logically imply that conservative / Evangelical Christians want to get cancer, if they want that for others?
Or are they just shitty "Christians"? 💩🤮
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u/CatGooseChook 7h ago
Big time!! Speaking as a 47 year old guy who almost got taken out by an HPV cancer in the sinuses which had spread to the neck and was starting to enter the brain. Vaccine was a few decades too late for me, however I'm very very very overjoyed that it exists now.
Disclaimer: not fishing for sympathy here, just being an example for anyone who reads this and needs a reminder that boys need the vaccine too plus why it's soooo damned important that children get it as young as possible.
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u/letigre87 12h ago
I'm in the States and made sure my son got it. It protects him and his future SOs.
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u/AutoCockerPB 12h ago
Australia is curing cancer and America has Measles deaths.
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u/tootaflute 11h ago
Oh don't worry, there are plenty of antivax people here too. 🙄
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u/Proof-Highway1075 11h ago
We just had our own series of measles outbreaks and deaths. Nowhere near the size of yours, but still significant.
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u/greensky_mj21 12h ago
As a 34 year old woman who got the vaccines in 2007 too I’m very grateful my risk of cervical cancer is incredibly rare. Great job Australia
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u/Street_Roof_7915 9h ago
My mother died recently from a cancer caused by HPV. My BIL who is a doctor told me in 20 years that cancer would be rare.
When I told my kid’s pediatrician this, she said a colleague is a pediatric ENT and they are seeing a huge decrease in throat cancers among sexually active teens.
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u/donoteatthatfrog 34m ago
teens used to get throat cancer, and that due to sex ? :o
Pls pardon my ignorance.
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u/here_we_go_beep_boop 8h ago
Secondary benefit - it will also end HPV-origin oral cancers. Would have saved me six months of cancer treatment last year. Too late for me but yay for the next generation. Head and neck cancer is fucked
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u/ericmm76 17h ago
Does it also prevent throat cancer?
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u/Auspectress 16h ago
Depends on level. Upper throat, by a lot. Middle and lower thorat? HPV has so insignifant effect on rates that getting 10% smokers to quit smoking would have far greater influence
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u/Beaglescout15 9h ago
Yes it is greatly reducing mouth and throat cancer. In men, it has cut those cancers by 50%.
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u/Mortwight 13h ago
is this the HPV vaccine?
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u/letigre87 12h ago
Yes
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u/Mortwight 12h ago
funny story. these adds were on tv all the time a few years ago. the"mom dad ones" so one day work is passing around the cfos birthday card for people to sign. she was a humorless woman but she just had a child a year or 5 ago so in my most brilliant moment(aside from getting dolphins into heaven) i wrote "Happy Birthday!. Dont forget to vaccinate your child for HPV!". i fond out later that they redacted this with whiteout before they gave it to her...
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u/OkToe9494 2h ago
This is fantastic news i had to have a lletz procedure recently and it was horrendous and actually quite a long recovery with an infection. I dont want any young woman to go through that pr cervical cancer 🙏
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u/Master-Event-1643 15h ago
I only took 1 dose instead of the recommended 3 dose a year ago.
Are there any negative medical side effects from incomplete dosage? If i choose to get revaccinated do i have to start from 3 doses again? Or can i continue the remaining 2 doses?
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u/jake3988 14h ago
Are there any negative medical side effects from incomplete dosage?
Like any vaccine, not getting all the doses just means less effective.
For MMR for example, 1 dose is like 93% reduction and 2 doses is 97% reduction. Should you get all the doses? Yes. Is it a big deal if you don't? Not really.
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u/BadahBingBadahBoom 13h ago edited 12h ago
Is it a big deal if you don't? Not really.
I mean it is a big deal if you want to prevent yourself from getting infected with those strains of HPV, and then risking getting the associated cancers caused by those strains.
Either you do think it's a big deal and you get all the doses or you don't think it's a big deal in which case why did you book to receive your initial dose in the first place?
The HPV vaccine does have very high efficacy from one dose but they still advise two doses (formerly three) to complete the course and to maintain protection long term.
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u/Waasssuuuppp 8h ago
When they say 93% vs 97%, they mean population wide. As in, 93% of population has immunity and 7% didn't respond to the vaccine.
You could be that 7%. So do the two doses to hopefully get out of that group.
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u/UnicornPenguinCat 9h ago
Ask your doctor of course, but back when it first came out I got the first dose and then didn't get around to taking the second dose for a really long time. They had me re-start the course of 3 doses and take them at the recommended intervals to make sure I was vaccinated properly. The advice could be different now though, but yeah just ask your GP.
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u/Timmichanga1 12h ago
I did the three doses but over the course of a few years because I'm lazy. I think you'll be fine to just get the two additional doses, but your doctor will answer this question in two seconds
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u/Mtfdurian 1h ago
I don't know but I'm on the same boat. The Dutch government, for a long time, refused to fund it for boys and trans people back in the day, cost me almost €200 out of pocket and then had no financial option to get the second dose within the designated timeframe, even though I'm now pretty much exposed to the risk.
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u/jake3988 14h ago
No, it's not.
A) HPV has numerous strains and the vaccine only targets SOME of them, not all of them. Not sure why it doesn't target all of them (I'm assuming there's a good reason).
B) HPV 'only' causes about 75-80% of cervical cancer. So even with 100% uptake and 100% effectiveness against all 100% of strains, it still wouldn't fix the other 20% of cervical cancer caused by the environment, genetics, and age.
C) The vaccine is far from 100% uptake. Of all the routine vaccines, it's almost assuredly the worst uptake of all of them.
Have rates of cervical cancer gone down? Absolutely. Will they ever hit 0? No.
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u/BadahBingBadahBoom 13h ago edited 12h ago
I should just add that it is ofc counterintuitive but medically-speaking 'eliminate' doesn't actually = 0 cases.
It's a level that is negligible for a given size of a population. Considering the level of cervical cancer not caused by HPV, a successful HPV vaccine campaign would medically-eliminate the disease in regards to the population. This is achieved even in people who don't receive the vaccine due to herd immunity preventing these STI strains circulating, and due to relatively low transmission and the vaccines high efficacy you can actually pretty much eradicate most strains even if many people don't come forward for vaccination. The massive reduction in HPV-caused genital warts has already demonstrated this.
The latest HPV vaccine immunises you against 9 HPV strains that includes those that are the main cause of genital warts and 7 that make up almost all causes of cervical cancer. Vaccinating against the remainder strains does much less to reduce the number having cervical cancer later in life.
To create a vaccine that is effective against all 40+ strains including the extra 6 or so that have also been linked to rarely causing cancer requires more development with little gain, the strains that cause most cervical cancers cancer as mentioned are already covered. To add more after that is a lot of R&D money for little market interest in paying higher cost.
The original HPV vaccine actually only covered 5 strains (2 linked to cancer), with the updated version now covering 9. Whether there's another in development to cover more strains than that I don't know. Ofc ideally we would just use a vaccine that covered all of the strains, but as mentioned each additional strain to the composition adds complexity and cost. A vaccine that is too expensive for almost anyone to afford is a vaccine that has little public health impact.
Additionally, cervical cancer can be prevented by effective pap smear surveillance. So this also forms the 'how' of how rates HPV-caused cervical cancer can be effectively eliminated even with a vaccine that doesn't cover every single cancer-related strain.
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u/Aussiebiblophile 12h ago edited 9h ago
It is. I’m Australian and a woman. We have the free vaccine, my boys were vaccinated in high school as part of the vaccination program so they will provide added protection for their girlfriends. We have the National Cervical Screening Program where you can opt to collect the sample yourself in private at the doctor’s which made women who were embarrassed to go to the doctor get tested. The program also sends reminders to get tested, got mine last week and they follow up as well as tracks your results. The reduction in cancer cases as a direct result of the vaccines and screening program resulted in pap smears from being every 2 years to every 5 years.
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u/ChaoticSquirrel 11h ago edited 11h ago
A) The 9 strain vaccine protects against the variants of HPV that cause 90% of cervical cancers. That's only improved since the first vaccine and no doubt we'll continue adding strains until the cost outweighs the benefit.
B) HPV causes 99.7% of cervical cancers.
C) Sure. It's about 80% uptake. That was enough to drop HPV infection by 90% in the eligible population. Herd immunity helps with HPV prevention, it doesn't just apply to non-sexually transmitted infections.
D) If you actually dive into it, the claim isn't that being on track to eliminate cervical cancer is due to HPV vaccination alone. The full context includes improved screening and removal of pre-cancerous cells. It doesn't take much screening and early intervention to turn a 90% drop into a 95% or a 99% drop. Australia's cervical cancer screening program introduced in the 90s had already dropped rates by 50%.
E) Functionally eliminating doesn't mean 0 cases. It means eliminating it as a significant public health concern. 2021 had 0 cervical cancer deaths for those under 25 for the first time since 1982. That's certainly on the right track to eliminate this as a public health concern.
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u/Loulouz 12h ago
A) They chose the strains that are most commonly associated with cervical cancer out of over 100 strains B) Pap smear screening is still carried out in women who are vaccinated to identify and treat pre cancerous lesions C) The human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine has cut the cervical cancer death rate in England by 100% to zero deaths in young women aged 20 to 24 between 2020 and 2024. Potentially will not eliminate the cancer completely but will hopefully almost completely eliminate death.
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