10lives.co.uk

I've been talking a lot recently about the cervical cancer jab that everyone was talking about so much a few months back. I have a younger sister who'll soon be at the age she can get it, and I think that she should, though my parents are still thinking about it.

You can get the Cervarix jab free on the NHS and protects against two HPV strains (numbers 16 and 18) that cause 70 per cent of cervical cancer cases, or you can pay £450 and get Gardasil, which protects against two more (numbers six and 11) that cause genital warts.

It's a hefty price, but it can protect girls against both cervical cancer and an STI that is still rife in the UK. With Gardasil, girls will never have to have genital warts treatment, though obviously they'll still need to protect themselves against all other STIs.

I think it's great that we can get Cervarix on the NHS, and it's an opportunity every young girl should take to protect themselves.