Dr. Kevin Connolly:

It is accepted that a marker of the likelihood of developing cervical cancer way down the road in ten, 20, 30 or 40 years are these pre-malignant changes that show up in the smear test. There are low-grade, middle-grade and high-grade changes, and the high-grade changes are related to cancer incidence. It has been shown that there has been a significant reduction in high-grade lesions, and it is very reasonable to conclude that it is highly likely there will be a reduction in the development of cancer, but the Deputy is correct in that we will not know for 30 or 40 years. However, there has been a reduction in these markers for the development of cancer and, as far as I am concerned, that is unequivocal evidence now. It was also shown in the trials. Hopefully, that has clarified it.