Japan to offer free cervical cancer vaccines to women who missed the vaccines

Japan’s health ministry on Thursday decided to provide free cervical cancer vaccines to women who missed the opportunity to get the vaccine after the government, in a decision since overturned, stopped promoting actively immunizing in 2013 following reports of adverse reactions.

Free vaccines against the human papillomavirus responsible for cervical cancer will be provided to women born between April 1997 and March 2006 over three years starting next April.

A woman is vaccinated against cervical cancer on November 9, 2021, in Yokohama near Tokyo. (Kyodo)

This follows the ministry’s decision in November to resume active promotion in April of the free vaccination program targeting schoolgirls.

HPV vaccines are universally recognized as safe, with the World Health Organization setting a global target for the period 2020-2030 of 90 percent of girls vaccinated by the age of 15.

However, many women in Japan did not receive vaccines because they were unaware of the free vaccination program covering girls ages 11 to 16 after the government stopped sending notifications as a result. reports of side effects such as long-lasting pain.

The three-year relief measures will target women beyond the age of eligibility for free inoculation, with the oldest being those in their mid-twenties.

With a view to resuming active promotion of the free vaccination program, the ministry will strengthen medical and counseling services for those who have developed side effects after receiving injections and will prepare brochures to share the latest scientific knowledge on these. vaccines.

In Japan, about 11,000 women develop cervical cancer and some 2,800 die from it each year, according to the ministry.

Associated coverage:

Activist helps cancer patients return to onsen public baths

FOCUS: Sections of public skeptical as Japan prepares to roll out vaccines

Japan launches cancer research project with 5 Asian countries