Miss Wales promotes cancer-preventing vaccine

THE current Miss Wales, Mille-Mae Adams, has partnered with Cardiff and Vale University Health Board to promote the importance of a cancer-preventing vaccine.

The medical student, 22, has created an educational video about the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, which is given for free to children in Year 8 of secondary school.

Watch video via Facebook here.

HPV is the name given to a very common group of viruses that are passed on through skin-to-skin contact and are usually found on the fingers, hands, mouth and genitals.

Most people who become infected with HPV will clear the virus from their body and won’t become unwell. But for some, it can cause genital warts or even develop into some types of cancer, including head and neck cancer (most common in men) and cervical cancer in women.

However, the HPV vaccine has proved very effective. Since it was introduced in 2008, it has reduced cervical cancer rates by almost 90% in women in their 20s.

Every spring, Cardiff and Vale UHB’s School Nursing Immunisation Team visits schools across the region to administer the HPV vaccine to Year 8s, along with those in Year 9, 10 and 11 who missed it in Year 8. 

To coincide with Valentine’s Day on 14th February, the Health Board teamed up with Millie-Mae to urge young people to “show yourselves some love” by having the HPV vaccine when it is offered in school.

“The vaccine works best when girls and boys have it in Year 8, so it’s important to have it as soon as it’s offered,” she explains in the video, which can be found on the Health Board’s social media channels.

“It’s given by one quick injection in the upper arm, and it’s the only cancer-preventing vaccine routinely given by NHS Wales.”

Louise Bridge, School Nursing Team Immunisation Team Leader at Cardiff and Vale UHB, said: “We are very grateful to Millie-Mae for taking the time to promote the importance of the HPV vaccine alongside her medical training and many other commitments.

“We encourage all parents to speak to their children about this incredibly important vaccine which is expected to eventually save thousands of lives each year across the UK.”

Millie-Mae, from Cardiff, was crowned Miss Wales in April 2023 and will now go on to compete at Miss World later this year.

She is also an ambassador for Cancer Research Wales, campaigned against domestic violence and created the first-ever Street Doctors team for the South West, a national organisation that trains young people about how to save a life.

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