By Hayley Robinson

Almost 2,000 girls in Swale are putting themselves at unnecessary risk of cervical cancer because they have not had all three parts of their immunisation injections.

Now NHS Eastern and Coastal Kent is urging all girls aged between 13 and 18 who have not finished the course of HPV jabs to book an appointment at their GP surgery as soon as possible. All three injections are needed to protect against most strains of the virus, which is transmitted through sexual contact and causes the vast majority of cases of cervical cancer.

The virus is very common, with more than half of all women becoming infected at some point in their lifetime, but only a small number of these will result in cervical cancer.

When women who have had the vaccine reach 25, they will still need to start being screened regularly for cervical cancer because the immunisation does not target all forms of the virus.

Claire Martin, a public health specialist for NHS Eastern and Coastal Kent, said: "We know that in some cases girls have had their first vaccination but missed out on further ones, perhaps because they were unwell, or forgot to attend an appointment.

"In other cases, girls haven’t even started the course. If a girl has had one or two vaccinations, she can resume the course at any time.

"We are also urging parents with children in Year 8 to make sure that they return the signed consent forms in plenty of time to the school. Any concerns about the jab can be talked through with your school nurse."

Latest figures released by the Department of Health show that in the Eastern and Coastal Kent area 22,844 (63.7 per cent) of the 35,885 girls in this age group have had all three of their jabs – but 13,041 (36.3 per cent) have missed one or more.