New college health education drive focuses on HPV diseases

A latest college health education campaign was launched at Tongji University this week to highlight more awareness around HPV (human papillomavirus) relevant diseases.

On Tuesday, officials from the city's disease prevention authority, Tongji faculty, and medical experts gathered to hold in-depth discussions over the significance of stressing gender-neutral prevention against HPV among college students.

They pointed out that it's meaningful to highlight the prevention against HPV-related diseases which is a major healthcare issue for not only women but the whole population.

Medical experts stressed that it would be beneficial for overall public health for males to grow a sense of relevancy and consciousness and take action.

The National Medical Products Administration last year approved MSD's nine-valent HPV vaccine for use in males aged between 16-26 years.

This made Gardasil9 the first and only nine-valent HPV vaccine approved for use in both males and females in China, indicating the starting of the "gender-neutral prevention" stage against HPV-related cancers and diseases.

Director Yang Yulin of the Shanghai Center for Women and Children's Health noted,"Gender-neutral prevention against HPV is not only a medical issue, but also a matter of public health and social responsibility that each of us should care about."

Both men and women at proper age should raise health awareness and pay attention to their own health issues together and combine efforts to realize a future free of HPV-related diseases, he noted.

Hua Keqin, professor at the Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital of Fudan University, said that the public is more concerned about the danger of HPV infection to women, but in fact men are also facing the same threat of disease caused by HPV infection. Persistent infection with high-risk types of HPV increases the risk of malignant tumors such as anal cancer, penile cancer, and oropharyngeal cancer in men.

Approximately 90 percent of condylomata acuminata are related to HPV types 6 and 11, he added.

Lack of health knowledge means there's not sufficient awareness about this potential health risk, and the risk of HPV infection in men is likely to be underestimated.

Deputy Director Sun Xiaodong of the Shanghai Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said: "We can integrate the relevant concepts into the college education system and continue to enhance public awareness and increase their participation in disease prevention causes."

A mini sit-com and disease education lecture about vaccine knowledge were staged for Tongji University students, where in-depth knowledge of vaccination and diseases were also offered.