Two-dose HPV vaccine now available in city
A girl receives the first shot of a two-dose HPV vaccine at Hunan Neighborhood Health Center.
The first group of girls aged between nine and 14-years old received injections of imported two-dose HPV vaccine at the Hunan Neighborhood Health Center in Xuhui District over the weekend.
Liu Jingyi, from Xuhui District Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said vaccination is the first barrier for cervical cancer prevention and control. The introduction of the two-dose shot provides an alternative to the current three-dose vaccine, and further streamlines the vaccination process.
Cervical cancer is the most prevalent female cancer in the world. In 2020, a total of 604,000 new cases and 342,000 deaths were reported globally.
There were about 110,000 cases of cervical cancer in China in 2020, when 59,000 people died of the diseases. Which means one new case is diagnosed every five minutes, and there is a death every nine minutes, imposing strong social, health and financial burdens to patients, families and society.
HPV infection is the major reason for cervical cancer, and 84.5 percent of the cases in China are related with infection of HPV16 and 18.
According to the WHO, girls between the ages of nine and 14 are the primary target for vaccinations. If adolescent girls are vaccinated against HPV, it can stimulate a better immune response, and women who have not had sex will achieve the best preventive effect.
China has issued a plan of terminating cervical cancer by 2030. It plans to have 90 percent of girls being covered by HPV vaccination before the age of 15 through public education and health campaigns.
Health officials said parents can go to nearby neighborhood health centers for consultation and reservation for their daughters' HPV jab.
