Pupils in other areas of Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland will follow suit in the coming weeks. It is expected that all girls aged between 12 and 17 will have been offered the vaccine by August 2009.

The Cervarix vaccine works by targeting HPV, the virus which causes cervical cancer. Manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline said the vaccine should prevent 70% of cases - saving about 70 lives a year in Scotland.

There was some controversy over the decision to select Cervarix over another vaccine, Gardasil, which is used by the majority of vaccination programmes worldwide. Dr David Cromie, who is co-ordinating the immunisation in Lanarkshire, said both vaccines were limited in terms of "the overall picture of HPV."

The Cervarix vaccine is given in three separate doses and costs about £240 for a course, which makes it the most expensive to be routinely offered by the NHS.

"This is a really exciting step to have discovered the cause of a cancer, to have identified what causes it and then to find a vaccine to eradicate it," said Dr. McKenzie, a consultant gynaecologist at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee.

"Here in Tayside we see up to 30 cases of new cervical cancer a year. With the vaccine being up to 70% effective, we expect to see 21 fewer women a year."

But she stressed that the vaccine did not protect women against every strain of the HPV virus, and that it was vital women continue to attend screening.

"They must understand that the vaccine is fantastic news for preventing cervical cancer, but it can only be combated by using cervical screening and the vaccine. So when they are called for screening, aged 20, they really must come along whether they have had the vaccine or not." (Source: BBC News)