Ruth Webber (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to Senator Santoro, the Minister representing the Minister for Health and Ageing. Is the minister aware that 740 Australian women are diagnosed with cervical cancer each year and that 270 women die each year from this devastating cancer? Is the minister also aware that Professor Ian Frazer was made Australian of the Year for developing the vaccine? Can the minister confirm that the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee has rejected an application to fund the vaccination of all 12-year-old Australian girls against cervical cancer? Why has the government refused to help fund the availability of this vaccine immediately? What does the minister have to say to parents who will now be forced to try and find the $460 they will need to spend on the health of their daughters until the government acts?