Next year onwards young girls, from age nine, will get access to the vaccine which prevents the most deadly form of cervical cancer caused by papilloma virus transmitted during sex.

The Health Ministry took this decision despite the resistance shown by it’s the epidemiologists and executives. They felt that this was a very expensive proposal and not worth the expense since the occurrence of cancer is very rare because of the high number of Jewish and Muslim men getting circumcised.

The virus is spread much more easily by men who have their foreskins intact since there is a higher probability of infection. The vaccination of men will also begin as they grow older because they are the source of infection for women.

The International Cancer Day is being celebrated by the Israel Cancer Association which expressed satisfaction with the ministry decision.

Every year, 12 million people across the globe including 27,000 Israelis are diagnosed with some type of cancer and 7.6 million of them die due to it.

The public is invited to sign a world declaration electronically by the ICA to fight cancer at www. uicc. org/declaration.