Two costly new vaccines that protect women from cervical cancer have been registered with the Medicines Control Council, paving the way for the products to be launched on the South African market.

That should be good news as cervical cancer is among the most common cancers affecting women and often goes undetected until it is too advanced to treat.

However, the hefty price tags on GlaxoSmithKline's Cervarix and Gardasil from Merck Sharpe & Dohme (MSD) ask tough questions about whether SA can afford to provide the shots.

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