All 12-year-old girls will be offered a new vaccine against cervical cancer, Health Minister Chris Fearne has announced.

Addressing a press conference at the Floriana Health Centre on Thursday, Mr Fearne said the vaccine provided by the government since 2013 targeted only two strains of the infection. The new vaccine targets six. 

The government has since provided protection against HPV (human papillomaviruses) to girls aged 12 through what is known as a bivalent vaccine.

Mr Fearne said an estimated 90 per cent of 12-year-olds get the vaccine. 

With the introduction of the new vaccine, which provides protection against nine types of HPV, Mr Fearne said the cervical cancer rate was expected to go down further in the coming years.

Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) is the most common sexually-transmitted infection. Most people who have HPV do not know that they are infected. Some types of HPV can cause genital warts and other types can cause cervical cancer. HPV is spread through sex and genital contact even when the infected partner has no signs or symptoms.

In rare cases, a woman with genital HPV can pass the virus to her baby during childbirth and this can cause the formation of warts in the baby’s respiratory tract.

Between the ages of nine and 14, the vaccine is given in two doses spaced six months apart. After the age of 14, the course is made up of three doses, with the first two doses given one month apart and the third dose given five months after the second dose. 

It is not yet known whether the vaccine gives lifelong protection.