HPV vaccination has dramatically reduced inequalities in cervical cancer, but the most deprived groups remain at highest risk

Inequalities in cervical disease are well documented and have been attributed partly to better accessibility and uptake of cervical screening in less deprived groups in the eligible population.12 With the global efforts to meet cervical cancer elimination targets3 and the growing evidence about the positive impact of vaccination on cervical cancer rates,4 now is a good time to focus on what works to reduce inequalities in cervical cancer and to consider how we should measure and value that.Our research study recently published in The BMJ used English population-based cancer registration data between 2006 and mid-2020 to examine the impact of the national HPV Vaccination Programme on grade 3 cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN3) and invasive cervical cancer by quintile of the index of multiple deprivation (IMD).5 Our findings show that the routine, school-based HPV vaccination programme—with high coverage of girls offered the vaccine at age 12-13 years—has substantially reduced incidence of…