New vaccines against the virus that causes cervical cancer could save hundreds of thousands of women's lives in the developing world, home to the vast majority of the more than 250,000 women who died from the disease last year, and funding to make them available must be a priority, United Nations health officials said yesterday at a conference in London.

"New vaccines against HPV in the developing world could save hundreds of thousands of lives if delivered effectively," Howard Zucker, World Health Organization (WHO) assistant director-general for health technology and pharmaceuticals, said.

The UN Population Fund (UNFPA) stressed that partnerships will be needed to try to reduce the usual lag between formal registration of a vaccine in developed countries and establishing a negotiated price and adequate production capacity to supply developing countries.

"Eighty percent of women who die of cervical cancer are generally poor and live in underserved areas. They will be the ones to benefit most from affordable prices and access to this vaccine," Arletty Pinel, head of UNFPA's Reproductive Health Branch, said.

Gardasil, the HPV vaccine made by Merck, was approved in the U.S. in June and in Europe in September.