Health officials are encouraging teenagers to take up the offer of a HPV vaccination when offered.
Those who missed it at school can also book into their GP practice for the jab, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) advised.
Uptake of HPV vaccine in young people is still well below pre-pandemic levels, but the latest figures show some encouraging signs of increases when people are first offered the vaccine in year 8.
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Overall uptake among year 8 females for the 2023/24 academic year was 72.9% (1.6% higher than the previous year) and 67.7% for year 8 males (2.5% higher than the previous year), UKHSA said.
But in year 9 uptake was 74.1% for girls (1.6% lower than the previous year) and 68.5% for boys (1.2% lower than previous year), the figures showed.
Efforts had been made to do catch-up campaigns after a drop off in the pandemic, which had seemed to have some impact, UKHSA added.
HPV coverage for female year 9 pupils was 2.8% higher than the previous academic year when the same cohort was in year 8. Similarly for male year 9 pupils, uptake was 3.3% higher than in 2022 to 2023, the data showed.
Dr Sharif Ismail, consultant epidemiologist at UKHSA, said: ‘The HPV vaccine is one of the most successful in the world, now given as just a single dose helping to prevent HPV related cancers from developing in boys and girls.
‘It’s great to see HPV uptake rates increasing for when children are first offered the vaccine in year 8, but we need to ensure that more young people who do not take up the original offer for any reason are caught up.
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‘Good progress was made to catch up older children immediately after the pandemic and we need to ensure these efforts are sustained. Our overall uptake rates are still behind on pre-pandemic years.’
He advised people to look out for the invitation from school and said anyone who missed their HPV vaccine could contact their GP practice to arrange an appointment with people eligible up to their 25th birthday.
Steve Russell, chief delivery officer and national director for vaccinations and screening at NHS England, said: ‘The HPV vaccine provides protection against a range of cancers in just a single dose, and supporting more young people to get vaccinated is vital to our ambition to eliminate cervical cancer by 2040.’
Last year an English study found that HPV vaccination reduced the number of cervical cancer diagnoses by 75% among those who were offered catch up vaccination at the age of 17-18 years when immunisation was first introduced.
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It followed a Scottish study which found a reduction in cervical cancer incidence of 74% for women vaccinated with 2 or 3 doses as a catch-up programme over 14 years of age and no cases of cervical cancer in those vaccinated at ages 12-13 years.
A version of this article was first published by our sister title Pulse
