A nonavalent vaccine called Gardasil 9 has been developed that protects against the seven oncogenic HPV types (types 16, 18, 31, 33, 45, 52 and 58), which cause 90% of cervical cancers in women and HPV related cancers in men. It also protects against two low-risk HPV types (types 6 and 11), which cause 90% of genital warts. This vaccine is provided by the Australian Government free of charge for girls and boys aged 12-13.

The IMPACT study will monitor how well the National HPV Vaccination Program is working by measuring how common the HPV virus is now, in healthy men and women. In the coming years, reports and research outputs providing information about the study and our findings will be posted here.

During 2014-2018 we recruited participants through a network of Family Planning, Sexual Health, General Practice Clinics, and Aboriginal Medical Services throughout Australia. From 2019, we are employing several strategies to best assess the impact of the vaccine among different populations of interest. The introduction of primary HPV testing with partial genotyping, provides an opportunity to integrate monitoring of both the screening and vaccination programs among women participating in cervical screening. This system is complemented with targeted sentinel surveillance using residual clinical samples submitted for routine STI testing in specific Australian populations, (such as women under the age of 25, and men who have sex with men) to provide comprehensive epidemiological surveillance of HPV vaccine impact in Australia.