MORE than three quarters of girls eligible to be vaccinated against a form of cancer have had the jab, figures have shown.

Earlier this year, a vaccination trial took place at Bury schools and was so successful that it was rolled out across the country.

It protects girls from the human papilloma virus (HPV), which is linked to cervical cancer and is almost always passed on through unprotected sex. Up to ten women a year die in Bury from cervical cancer.

There was controversy in September when governors from St Monica’s High School in Prestwich decided not to allow the jab to be delivered on school grounds.

They were accused by health groups of putting moral issues before children’s health, but the governors insisted their decision had nothing to with fears of promoting sexual promiscuity.

Instead, they said it was a decision made purely on health grounds because when girls from Year 8 had the jab during the pilot study, a number of them felt unwell afterwards.

Governors wrote to parents saying the school was an inappropriate place to administer the injections, believing it should be done in a doctor’s surgery or hospital.

NHS statistics show 53 per cent of girls from the school invited to have the jab have done so so far.

Bury NHS deputy chief executive Anne Coates said that given St Monica’s had the highest number of potential participants, the uptake level was a significant achievement.

She added: “We are very pleased that an overall uptake of 77 per cent was achieved for the first dose of the HPV vaccination within Bury high schools, a significant achievement for the delivery of this new vaccination.

“The vaccination was made available to all eligible girls, and will continue to be made available to those who have not to date accessed the vaccination.

“We continue to work closely with all schools with a view to achieving the best possible coverage of the vaccination within Bury.”