A TRAINEE hairdresser from Weymouth is fronting a campaign to educate girls about preventing cervical cancer.

Inaya Gillingham, 16, will lead the campaign by Go Girls, a Dorset charity supporting women with gynaecological cancers, as part of this year's national cervical cancer prevention week which starts on Monday.

Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer in women worldwide and 99 per cent of cervical cancers are caused by HPV.

All girls and boys aged 12 to 13 are offered the HPV vaccine each year and Inaya wants to use her voice to educate her peers on the importance of taking it up.

She said: "Although I had the HPV vaccine at school, I knew very little about it, nor cervical cancer or how to prevent the disease.

"When I met GO Girls I found out a lot more and I want my friends and others to know about it to.

"Educating ourselves about why prevention is important and the risks factors in developing cervical cancer has to be the right way ahead. If we don’t understand why we should prevent the disease, we could be at risk."

Go Girls was founded by Hilary Maxwell, a gynae-oncology clinical nurse specialist at Dorset County Hospital from Weymouth.

Last year, Hilary was awarded Oncology Nurse of the Year by the British Journal of Nursing.

She said: "Vaccination could not be a hotter topic right now. Vaccinating against high-risk HPV is so important to try and prevent cervical cancer. Cervical cancer is a horrid disease.

"Not only does the vaccine help to protect against cervical cancer, but it can prevent boys from getting cancer of the penis too.

"I have seen far too many young women die from cervical cancer in my career as a specialist nurse."

The vaccine is given in two doses and both doses need to be taken up to ensure protection.

Hilary said: "Whilst the vaccine offers good protection, a bit like the coronavirus vaccine, it is not 100 per cent effective - women should still attend their screening appointments.

"Other risk factors include smoking, the contraceptive pill and not practising safe sex."

For more information about Go Girls and cervical cancer prevention, visit www.gogirlssupport.org/