Thousands set to benefit from Hong Kong’s free HPV vaccination programme
Government set to roll out three-year scheme to protect more than 30,000 young girls from cervical cancer across the city
More than 30,000 young girls from low-income families will be offered free cervical cancer vaccines under a HK$99 million scheme funded by the government’s Community Care Fund, it was announced yesterday.
The three-year programme will begin from October 3 for girls aged between nine and 18, who either receive comprehensive social security assurance or those who are receiving a full grant under the school textbook assistance scheme.
The free cervical cancer vaccination pilot scheme was first introduced by Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying in his policy address last January. It will benefit 31,000 girls at a cost of HK$98.75 million.
The move came as the Cancer Registry ranked the cancer as the seventh most common cancer among local women in 2013 and after an expert panel advised the government to look at the possibility of such plan in the same year.
Such schemes are already in place in about 50 countries, according to statistics from the World Health Organisation.
The 9-valent vaccine that will be offered is the newest human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine developed to cover HPV genotypes, which account for 90 per cent of cervical cancer cases.