China's top health authority said regions with favorable local conditions are encouraged to offer free vaccines against the human papillomavirus to protect women and girls from cervical cancer, CCTV reported on Wednesday.
As China currently has not included the HPV vaccination into its national immunization regimen, local governments with adequate resources are encouraged to pilot vaccination projects, as part of an effort to help increase the inoculation rate of HPV vaccines among young girls in the country, according to the National Health Commission.
In May 2021, the commission launched pilot projects focused on cervical cancer prevention strategies in 15 key cities, to formulate relevant regulations and introduce awareness campaigns.
At present, provinces such as Guangdong, Hainan and Fujian have all rolled out policies aimed at covering all schoolgirls eligible for HPV vaccinations.
China has so far approved five HPV vaccines, including two homegrown ones.
According to an expert at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, by the end of 2020, China had administered nearly 12.28 million HPV vaccines, up from about 3.42 million by the end of 2018.
But the overall vaccination rate remains relatively low due to the large number of women eligible for HPV vaccines and limited supplies in the country. Moreover, the HPV vaccination rate of school-age girls in China is less than 1 percent.
Cervical cancer involves a malignant tumor that seriously threatens women's health. Studies have shown that persistent infection of high-risk HPV is directly related to the incidence of cervical cancer, with the two most common virus strains-Type 16 and Type 18 responsible for nearly 85 percent of cervical pre-cancers.
Inoculation for school-age girls can effectively block the infection and reduce the incidence of cervical cancer and precancerous lesions, especially for girls who have not been infected with HPV yet.
(Source: Xinhua)
32.3KPlease understand that womenofchina.cn,a non-profit, information-communication website, cannot reach every writer before using articles and images. For copyright issues, please contact us by emailing: [email protected]. The articles published and opinions expressed on this website represent the opinions of writers and are not necessarily shared by womenofchina.cn.
Bella Hadid goes braless in a thigh
Godzilla teams up with Kong for new colossal fight
Guangdong rally by Fujian, Sichuan lose 12th in a row
World Asia Esports Championship scheduled for September in China
Pentagon vows to keep weapons moving to Ukraine as Kyiv faces a renewed assault by Russia
Haliburton guides Pacers past Raptors 140
Azerbaijan urges top UN court to toss out Armenian case alleging racial discrimination
Spring farming underway across China
Celebrity birthdays for the week of May 26
US weightlifter Reeves bags 3 golds at IWF World Cup
Verona confirms Serie A status for another year after beating Salernitana
Kipyegon and Duplantis set to star in Xiamen