Parents are being discreetly canvassed on whether they would let their adolescent daughters be vaccinated against cervical cancer as the Department of Health prepares the ground for a national immunisation programme.

Boys may also be given jabs to protect against the sexually transmitted virus that causes the cancer in women and has been linked to rare male cancers.

Two vaccines, most effective in girls between 10 and the early teens, are expected to be licensed for girls and young women in Britain within 12 months. Although immunising girls before they are sexually active may prove controversial, parents surveyed for the government are said to be "very positive", with mothers more interested in details than fathers.

Most were aware of cervical cancer, but knowledge of its precursor, the human papilloma virus (HPV), was more limited. "Some parents raised concerns about introducing the vaccine in primary school and opinion tended towards offering it in early adolescence at secondary school," said minutes of the joint committee on vaccination and immunisation (JCVI).

The Department of Health hopes to publish more details soon in a scientific journal. The research indicates how seriously officials are considering a national programme to vaccinate hundreds of thousands of pre-teens. A spokeswoman for the department said last night: "Any change or addition to the vaccination programme is made following careful consideration of all available data by the JCVI." Scotland and Wales could go their own way on a national immunisation programme, but usually follow England.

Companies are testing whether their products are effective in tackling strains of the virus both in women in their late 20s and in men. One vaccine, Gardasil, made by Sanofi Pasteur and Merck and Co, is already licensed in Australia, Mexico and the United States, where health advisers have recommended vaccination for girls when they are 11 or 12, despite opposition from conservative Christian groups and pro-abstinence lobbies. The vaccine protects against HPV strains that are precursors to 70% of cervical cancers and most cases of genital warts. A three-dose course over six months costs $360 (£195).

Another vaccine, Cerverix, made by GlaxoSmithKline, may win European approval next spring. It also protects against the two main cervical cancer strains, and may guard against two more, amounting to 80% of such cancers.

HPV is common in young sexually active people, but there is no treatment, although most people's defence systems clear the virus. Studies by Manchester University researchers who questioned parents in the city earlier this year suggested 80% uptake might be achievable. Professor Henry Kitchener said yesterday: "You are vaccinating against a sexually transmitted infection but to prevent a serious cancer. It is difficult for people to make that connection. But once we get a chance to explain what the vaccination is for, I think they will be supportive."

Death toll

· Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer in women around the world.

· It causes an estimated 470,000 new cases and more than 230,000 deaths each year.

· In Britain, screening is responsible for a huge improvement in detection, but even so there are about 1,100 deaths each year. Vaccination would bring enormous benefits but large-scale take-up would be needed.