Science saves lives: HPV vaccine effectively eliminates cervical cancer deaths in young women 

Humanists UK is celebrating extraordinary new findings, published this week in The Lancet, which show that the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine has reduced the risk of cervical cancer death before age 30 to effectively zero. Between 2020 and 2024, no women aged 20–24 died from the disease in England — the first time that has ever happened in any previous five-year period.  

Humanists hold that the application of science and reason offers the surest path to improving human life, and few achievements illustrate that conviction more powerfully than a single vaccination programme rendering a cancer virtually extinct in a generation.

The study, led by Queen Mary University of London and funded by Cancer Research UK, estimates that around 200 lives have already been saved since the schools-based HPV jab was introduced in 2008, with researchers describing this as just the ‘tip of the iceberg’ as vaccinated cohorts grow older. It is a reminder that when evidence is followed and public health systems are supported, the results can be transformative.

Despite these benefits, vaccination rates across the UK have fallen below recommended levels, and the researchers warn that this hard-won progress is now at risk. At a time when trust in evidence is too easily undermined by misinformation, these findings are a clear and hopeful rejoinder: science works, vaccines save lives, and a future in which cervical cancer is effectively eliminated is within reach — but only if we commit to making it happen.